Ripple Slashes Through Red Tape—UAE Banks Adopt XRP for Payments

Ripple just bulldozed another frontier in cross-border payments, this time in the UAE. Major banks—likely tired of watching SWIFT fees eat into their profits—are now integrating XRP into their payment rails.

The move could cut settlement times from days to seconds, a win for institutions that still think ’real-time payments’ means sending a fax with a timestamp. Meanwhile, traditional finance clings to legacy systems like a banker hugging his Rolodex.

If this partnership scales, XRP’s utility token narrative gets a serious boost—assuming regulators don’t suddenly remember they hate crypto again.

UAE positions itself as a crypto payments leader

The Middle East, especially the UAE, is showing an increasing appetite for blockchain-powered financial infrastructure.

Ripple, citing its internal research, reported that 64% of the region’s financial decision-makers prioritize speed as the key driver for adopting digital asset solutions in cross-border payments.

According to the firm, this has led to a noticeable demand for its payments solution from crypto-native firms and traditional financial institutions across the region.

Merrick highlighted the UAE’s leadership role in fostering crypto innovation through supportive regulations that allow companies to capitalize on blockchain’s potential to modernize traditional payment rails.

Imad Gharazeddine, CEO and co-founder of Mamo, echoed this sentiment and noted that the innovation-friendly regulatory environment WOULD attract more firms to the region.

He said:

“The UAE is on an incredible growth path, with over a million businesses expected to call it home by 2030.”