SAMA official says joint digital currency will not be available for individuals

The joint digital currency plan is only for the use of banks participating in “Aber” project, and will not be available for individuals, Al Arabiya TV reported, citing Ziad Al Yousef, Deputy Governor for Development and Technology at Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).

The Wholesale central bank digital currency (Wholesale CBDC) will be used as a settlement unit for domestic as well as cross-border commercial bank transactions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

In a joint statement, the UAE Central Bank and SAMA launched the ‘Aber’ project, with the aim to develop a cross-border payment system that will reduce transfer times and costs between banks in the two GCC states.

The central banks plan to develop a technology, such as distributed ledgers, which can be used to manage digital currencies between the two central banks and banks participating in the initiative in both the countries.