​​​​​​​​​​​​​Overview

Project Aber was an innovative joint initiative launched by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) in 2019. The project aimed to study and evaluate the technical and operational aspects of an experimental settlement model based on a shared digital currency between the two central banks for domestic and cross-border payment settlements. It also explored the potential of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to enhance the efficiency of settlement processes by reducing settlement time and costs. A total of six commercial banks (three from each jurisdiction) participated in all phases of the project, during which several experimental use case scenarios were conducted in a controlled testing environment to evaluate the technical and operational aspects of the technology. The project was implemented as a proof of concept (PoC) to explore, experiment with, and deepen understanding of DLT and its potential for domestic and cross-border settlement.

​​​​​​​​Scope

Studying and evaluating the technical and operational aspects of an experimental settlement model based on a digital currency between the two central banks for domestic and cross-border payment settlements.​