China Prepares Commercial Expansion of UAE-Backed mBridge Payments Platform

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China readies mBridge CBDC for commercial use after RMB 470bn in payments - how UAE and Gulf banks are affected

China's People's Bank of China is advancing mBridge toward broader commercial deployment, the Financial Times has reported, marking a significant step up from the platform's pre-commercial pilot phase.
mBridge links the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE and Saudi Arabia on a shared distributed ledger, enabling near-real-time cross-border settlement in central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The platform has reportedly processed transactions worth approximately RMB 470 billion - around USD 65 billion - since its pilot phases began, according to the Financial Times.
The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) is a founding participant, embedding mBridge within its multi-year Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) programme.
Saudi Arabia's central bank (SAMA) joined as a full participant around 2023 to 2024, raising the prospect of some Gulf energy and commodity trade settling outside traditional dollar channels.
UAE banks, FX desks, payment providers and compliance teams should begin assessing the operational, commercial and regulatory implications of CBDC-based cross-border settlement.

How CBUAE's Role in mBridge Is Reshaping UAE Cross-Border Payment Infrastructure

China's central bank is preparing to commercially expand Project mBridge, a multi-currency platform that links five central banks for cross-border settlement in central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Financial Times reported the development on 14 June 2026, noting that the platform has processed transactions worth approximately RMB 470 billion to date. mBridge is designed to replace the chain of correspondent banks that typically adds days and significant cost to international transfers.

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) is one of mBridge's five founding central banks, alongside the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand and Saudi Arabia's central bank, SAMA. CBUAE has embedded its involvement within its Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) programme - a multi-year initiative to modernise the UAE's digital payment and settlement infrastructure. SAMA's accession as a full participant around 2023 to 2024 significantly broadens the platform's reach across Gulf trade corridors.

What Is mBridge and How Does It Work?

At its core, mBridge is a permissioned distributed ledger on which each participating central bank issues its own wholesale CBDC. A wholesale CBDC is a digital token representing a direct liability of the issuing central bank - functionally identical to traditional reserves, but held and transferred on a shared platform. No supranational currency is created; each CBDC remains a liability of its own central bank and operates under that jurisdiction's domestic legal framework.

Commercial banks and other authorised institutions access the platform via participant nodes, which hold CBDC wallets and initiate payment and FX instructions on behalf of their clients. Settlement is recorded on the shared ledger in seconds rather than days. The platform also supports payment-versus-payment (PvP) FX settlement, in which two banks exchange CBDC balances simultaneously - eliminating the settlement risk that arises when the two legs of a foreign exchange trade settle at different times.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub co-founded the project and coordinated its early technical development. It has since stepped back from operational involvement, consistent with its mandate as a research and prototyping body rather than a production infrastructure operator. Governance of the platform now rests with the five participating central banks, which collectively set technical standards, data-sharing rules and system-wide risk arrangements.

RMB 470 Billion Processed: The Scale of mBridge Activity

The Financial Times has reported that mBridge has processed transactions worth approximately RMB 470 billion - equivalent to around USD 65 billion at current exchange rates. This figure aggregates volumes from the platform's pilot, pre-commercial and early commercial-style phases. It reflects significant growth from the 2022 pilots, in which a limited set of commercial banks transacted tens of millions of dollars across a defined test period. Reuters separately cited a cumulative figure of USD 55.49 billion, consistent with the same order of magnitude and likely reflecting a different measurement window.

Saudi Arabia's entry as a full participant adds material strategic weight. SAMA had initially engaged as an observer before formalising full participation around 2023 to 2024. This built on its experience with Project Aber - an earlier bilateral experiment with the UAE that tested a common wholesale CBDC for cross-border settlement. With SAMA's accession, the five-currency network now encompasses the renminbi, Hong Kong dollar, Thai baht, UAE dirham and Saudi riyal, covering trade corridors that account for a significant share of Asia-Gulf commerce.

The commercial banks onboarded across the five jurisdictions are not comprehensively listed in public documentation. However, major UAE lenders such as First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank are plausible participants, given their central roles in regional trade finance and correspondent banking. Active corridors have included China-UAE, China-Hong Kong and China-Thailand flows, with Saudi-linked corridors expected to expand as SAMA's integration deepens.

Faster Settlement, Lower Costs: Challenging Correspondent Banking

One of mBridge's central claims is the potential to reduce cross-border settlement times from two to three days - typical under the conventional correspondent banking model - to near-real time. Under that traditional model, a payment from a UAE bank to a Chinese counterparty may pass through several intermediary institutions, each adding fees, exchange spreads and processing delays. Cumulative all-in costs for some corridors can reach 2% to 3% of the principal amount transferred. mBridge aims to reduce that figure to well below 1% for qualifying transactions, by enabling direct bank-to-bank settlement with integrated FX pricing on a shared ledger.

Factor	Correspondent Banking (SWIFT)	mBridge (CBDC platform)
Settlement time	2-3 business days	Near-real time (seconds)
Intermediaries	Multiple correspondent banks	Direct bank-to-bank on shared ledger
All-in cost (indicative)	2-3% or more	Potentially below 1% for qualifying corridors
FX settlement	Separate FX deal required; settlement risk applies	Payment-versus-payment (PvP) integrated on-platform
Supervisory visibility	Limited; intermediary data not always shared	Permissioned ledger; central banks hold supervisory visibility

Cost savings will not materialise automatically for end users. Banks will need to recoup technology integration and compliance costs, and central banks have yet to fully disclose mBridge's fee structure. That said, even a partial pass-through to corporate clients in high-volume trade finance corridors could materially improve pricing compared with the current correspondent banking model.

The UAE has already demonstrated appetite for CBDC-based cross-border settlement beyond mBridge. Earlier in 2026, UAE banks joined the Jisr CBDC platform for direct payments with China - a related initiative that illustrates how quickly this infrastructure is becoming operational across the region.

Renminbi, the Dirham, and the Geopolitical Stakes

The People's Bank of China has consistently framed mBridge as part of its renminbi internationalisation strategy, enabling direct currency settlement without routing through the US dollar or SWIFT. By building such infrastructure, the PBOC advances its objective of increasing the renminbi's use in bilateral trade with Middle Eastern and Asian partners.

The PBOC presents the platform as enabling "public goods" in global payment infrastructure. External analysts are more likely to interpret it as part of a longer-term effort to reduce reliance on Western-controlled payment networks. CBUAE's positioning is more measured: the UAE maintains its dollar peg and presents mBridge as a tool for efficiency and AML/CFT traceability rather than currency diversification - a stance that allows it to engage with a PBOC-led initiative while maintaining strong ties to Western financial systems.

Saudi Arabia's position is similarly nuanced. SAMA has not endorsed large-scale oil settlement in non-dollar currencies, and global oil benchmarks remain firmly dollar-denominated. However, the platform makes it technically feasible for individual bilateral contracts between Saudi exporters and Chinese buyers to settle in renminbi or riyals, bypassing traditional correspondent channels. The most likely near-term outcome is selective use for well-documented trade transactions, rather than any wholesale departure from the petrodollar settlement model.

What UAE Banks, FX Desks, and Payment Providers Should Consider

For treasury and FX teams at UAE-licensed banks, mBridge's commercial expansion calls for an early assessment of two areas. Near-real-time settlement changes intraday liquidity management: banks will need to hold less precautionary liquidity in correspondent accounts but must also adapt their systems for continuous, around-the-clock settlement. Second, institutions should begin evaluating correspondent banking relationships in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Saudi Arabia corridors - some of which may become less cost-competitive as CBDC-based alternatives scale.

For payment service providers and exchange houses, the commercial threat is indirect but real. mBridge operates at the wholesale level, so retail consumers cannot access it directly. If UAE banks pass on CBDC-based settlement savings to end users, pricing pressure in UAE-India, UAE-Pakistan and UAE-Philippines remittance corridors is likely to intensify over time. Our overview of how the Digital Dirham is reshaping UAE cross-border settlement covers the domestic CBDC dimension in more detail.

Compliance and risk teams face the most immediate practical obligation. mBridge does not incorporate US or EU oversight bodies into its governance structure, and there is no direct role for Western sanctions enforcement agencies on the platform. Banks must ensure their AML screening, know your customer (KYC) processes and sanctions controls can operate effectively on a new settlement rail. CBUAE is expected to issue specific guidance on CBDC-based settlement in due course - institutions should begin gap assessments against existing AML/CFT frameworks now.

What Clients are Asking their Advisors

What is mBridge and which central banks are involved?

mBridge is a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform that allows participating commercial banks to settle cross-border payments and FX transactions on a shared distributed ledger. The five central banks involved are the People's Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), and the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).

How does mBridge settlement differ from SWIFT and correspondent banking?

Under conventional correspondent banking via SWIFT, a cross-border payment can pass through several intermediary banks and take two to three days to settle, with cumulative fees that can reach 2% to 3% or more. mBridge settles in near-real time on a shared ledger, eliminating multiple correspondent hops and potentially reducing total costs to below 1% for qualifying corridors.

Does mBridge mean oil is now being traded in renminbi instead of dollars?

Not to any material extent yet. Saudi Arabia's participation makes it technically feasible for some bilateral energy trade to settle in renminbi or riyals rather than US dollars. However, global oil pricing conventions and investment flows remain firmly dollar-centric, and any shift is expected to be incremental and selective rather than a wholesale departure from the petrodollar system.

What compliance risks does mBridge create for UAE banks?

The primary compliance risk involves sanctions screening, as CBDC-based corridors operate outside US and European oversight frameworks. Banks must ensure their AML and sanctions controls can screen counterparties and transactions on a new and unfamiliar settlement rail. Operational risks include legal finality questions in a multi-jurisdiction distributed ledger and the need to adapt liquidity management for near-real-time settlement.