U.S.–Saudi FinTech
Accelerating Blockchain Adoption in Cross-Border Payments
A joint ScienceWerx task force between U.S. and Saudi financial institutions reduced cross-border transaction costs by 40% through a purpose-built blockchain layer.
The Challenge
Cross-border payments between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia were burdened by legacy SWIFT infrastructure, high intermediary fees, and settlement delays of three to five business days. For SMEs conducting international trade, these frictions represented both a cost and a competitive disadvantage.
The Solution
The ScienceWerx FinTech Task Force partnered researchers from MIT's Digital Currency Initiative with fintech engineers from Riyadh-based institutions to design a permissioned blockchain layer compatible with both the Federal Reserve's FedNow system and SAMA regulations. The protocol uses atomic swaps and smart contract-driven compliance checks to eliminate most intermediary steps.
The Outcome
After a 12-month pilot involving 23 companies and over $480 million in transaction volume, the protocol achieved a 40% reduction in per-transaction fees and reduced average settlement time from 3.2 days to under 4 hours. The Saudi Central Bank issued a regulatory sandbox license in Q4 2024 to allow continued scaling.
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