The region
Sovereign rails
Domestic card schemes and instant payment systems localise data and give central banks real-time visibility over money in circulation.
A corridor is designed against the rails that already exist in the destination market. Which national switch a sponsor bank sits behind, which scheme it settles in, and which clearing hub the corridor routes through determine what is possible and what a central bank will accept.
The Arab region has invested heavily in sovereign rails over the past decade. This is what a syndicate is contracting into.
National switches and schemes
Saudi Arabia
Mada · Sarie
Domestic card scheme and RTGS
Mada is the mandatory domestic card scheme settled through SAMA. Sarie handles real-time interbank transfers and has become the default settlement rail for giga-project supply chains.
United Arab Emirates
Jaywan · Aani
Domestic card scheme and instant payments
Jaywan gives the CBUAE a sovereign card rail. Aani operates the instant retail layer with alias-based addressing and integration into bank mobile applications.
Egypt
Meeza · IPN
Domestic card scheme and account-to-account
Meeza is the Central Bank of Egypt’s national card scheme. The Instant Payment Network delivers round-the-clock account-to-account transfers used for government disbursement and SME collections.
Jordan
JoMoPay · CliQ
Mobile wallet switch and instant transfers
The Central Bank of Jordan operates the national switch. CliQ is the consumer-facing instant transfer brand, increasingly used for payroll and government-to-person flows.
Bahrain
BENEFIT · Fawri+
National switch and real-time transfers
BENEFIT clears cards, ATMs and e-commerce. Fawri+ delivers near-instant interbank transfers, making Bahrain one of the most mature real-time markets per capita in the region.
Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen
Emerging national rails
Build-out in progress
Early-stage national switches, regulatory sandboxes and targeted corridor pilots, where ArabPay’s national companies and business units engage the central bank from the outset.
Cross-border and wholesale
Regional infrastructure that reduces reliance on correspondent chains and on a dollar-only messaging stack, while preserving full sanctions and anti-money-laundering integrity.
Regional clearing
BUNA
The Arab Monetary Fund’s multi-currency cross-border payment system. It settles in regional currencies alongside the dollar and euro, cutting foreign-exchange hops in intra-Arab trade.
GCC real-time
AFAQ
The real-time GCC payment system, enabling direct settlement between GCC central bank members without an intermediated dollar leg.
Wholesale CBDC
Project Aber
A dual-issued wholesale unit from CBUAE and SAMA on distributed ledger, explored as a settlement primitive for domestic and cross-border commercial bank transactions.
How this informs advisory work
Advisory work translates a member bank’s intent into a specific corridor design: which national switch to integrate with, which scheme to settle in, which clearing hub to route through, and how the sanctions, anti-money-laundering and data-localisation position is documented for both supervisors.
ArabPay does not operate any of these systems, hold membership in them, or settle across them. They are the environment a corridor is designed for.