The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has announced a strategic collaboration with Kinexys by JP Morgan, the firm’s industry-leading blockchain business unit, to pilot a next-generation programmable payments infrastructure.

The partnership, formalised during Fintech Forward 2025, positions NBB at the vanguard of digital transformation in regional banking through the adoption of blockchain-native payment technologies.

NBB will leverage Kinexys Digital Payments (KDP) to roll out real-time programmable payment capabilities.

This technology is set to support more complex, conditional, and automated financial flows, including scheduled disbursements, threshold-based transfers, and event-triggered settlements.

The move aims to offer advanced financial rails to meet evolving corporate and institutional demands, enhancing efficient liquidity management and interbank capabilities.

NBB Group chief executive officer for corporate and commercial banking Ali Abdulkarim said, “This collaboration represents a pivotal moment in our journey to reimagine the future of payment mechanisms across the region. Integrating this programmable infrastructure will allow us to unlock powerful new capabilities, enabling faster, smarter, and more flexible transaction flows that can scale with our ambitions.”

He added that as Bahrain accelerates its fintech leadership, NBB remains focused on delivering innovative solutions that combine trust, technology, and transformation.

The initiative underscores NBB’s commitment to minimising friction, reducing costs, and meeting the demands of today’s increasingly dynamic business models that are leaning towards decentralised finance applications.

Crucially, it also aligns with the Central Bank of Bahrain’s ongoing efforts to position the kingdom as a leading financial technology hub in the Gulf.

By joining a growing number of global financial institutions adopting Kinexys’ blockchain infrastructure, NBB is paving the way for new applications across treasury operations, corporate banking, digital platforms, and emerging fintech ecosystems.

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