Ripple: Absa Bank becomes first partner in Africa

INFBusiness
17.10.2025
Markets

Ripple announces a partnership with South Africa's Absa Bank. The Johannesburg-based financial institution will use Ripple technology to custody digital assets. According to the announcement, the collaboration includes the provision of institutional custody infrastructure for tokenized assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Absa, one of Africa's largest financial institutions, is the first major bank on the continent to partner with Ripple on custody services. The goal is to meet the growing demand for secure and compliant digital asset solutions in emerging markets.
“Africa is currently experiencing a fundamental shift in the way value is stored and transferred,” said Reece Merrick, Managing Director Middle East and Africa at Ripple. “Our partnership with Absa underscores our commitment to unlocking the potential of digital assets on the continent.”
Absa also sees the collaboration as an important step. “We recognize the importance of secure, compliant, and robust custody solutions for digital assets,” explains Robyn Lawson, Head of Digital Product, Custody at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking. “With Ripple, we can offer our clients the next generation of financial infrastructure.”
Ripple already has partnerships with other African players, including payment service provider Chipper Cash. The collaboration with Absa expands its network of institutional partners in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. According to Ripple's 2025 New Value Report, 64 percent of financial executives in the Middle East and Africa region cite faster payment processing as the primary reason for adopting blockchain technologies.
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