FirstRand Bank has made history as the first South African bank to adopt Kinexys Digital Payments — J.P. Morgan's private, permissioned blockchain network — for programmable, 24/7, near real-time USD treasury transactions.
The move takes distributed ledger technology (DLT) out of the proof-of-concept phase and into live, mission-critical operations. FirstRand's treasury team has set pre-defined conditions through Programmable Payments that automatically trigger USD transfers between the bank's internal legal entities — without being constrained by traditional settlement windows.
What This Enables
24/7 near real-time USD payments across group entities
Automated, condition-based transactions via Programmable Payments
Optimized intraday liquidity — no excess buffers needed
Foundation for expanded customer-facing USD payment solutions across Africa
Available via J.P. Morgan's blockchain deposit accounts on Kinexys
Bhulesh Singh, FirstRand Group Treasurer, said: "The group believes that distributed ledger technology is central to the financial market infrastructure of the future. Joining Kinexys will help the bank to improve the speed and efficiency with which it can effect US dollar payments."
Zack Chestnut, Head of Business Development for Kinexys Digital Payments, added: "We're proud to help financial institutions like FirstRand Bank unlock the combined benefits of programmable payments and 24/7/365 onchain payments."
With brands including First National Bank and Rand Merchant Bank operating across Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Namibia and beyond, FirstRand's adoption sets a new benchmark for treasury modernization across Sub-Saharan Africa.