The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the Arab Monetary Fund have announced the signing of an agreement between them to launch settlement operations in UAE dirhams on the “Beni” platform for Arab payments.
This announcement is the culmination of the efforts made by both the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates team and the team of the "Beni" platform, to link regulations, take tests and complete procedures during the past months to include the UAE dirham as the first settlement currency in the platform.
The launch of settlement operations in UAE dirhams, banks operating in Arab countries and participation in the "structures" platform can accelerate the clearing and settlement of cross-border payments made in dirhams and reduce their costs. The UAE dirham accounts for a large proportion of Arab payments due to the fact that it is the largest Arab currency that is traded across borders in the Arab world, as the share of transactions in dirhams exceeds more than 13 per cent of the total inter-Arab financial transactions (this does not include transfers of individuals through exchange companies).
It is worth noting that the "Bani" platform represents a multi-currency payment platform that provides clearing and settlement services in Arab currencies and international currencies that meet the eligibility requirements, for clearing and settling inter-Arab financial transactions as well as financial transactions between Arab countries and the main trading partners of the Arab countries.
The platform aims to enable financial and banking institutions in the Arab region, including central and commercial banks, to send and receive inter-payments across the Arab region and beyond in a safe and reliable manner at an appropriate cost and high effectiveness. The Bani platform provides participants with modern payment solutions that comply with international standards, principles and international compliance requirements. The platform contributes to enhancing opportunities for economic and financial integration in the Arab region and supporting investment links with the trading partners of Arab countries on various continents.
It is mentioned that the platform is available to all banks that meet the criteria and conditions for participation in it, at the forefront of which are the standards and procedures for compliance aspects.
In this context, the Director General of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Hamidi, expressed his pleasure at launching settlement operations in UAE dirhams, and his appreciation and gratitude to His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates for his continuous support for the "Beni" platform for Arab payments and for the cooperation of his colleagues in The bank completes the procedures for including the UAE dirham as the first currency in the "structures" platform for payments and encouraging the participation of commercial banks in it. His Excellency also renewed his aspiration to launch settlement operations for other Arab currencies that have been announced included in the platform.