Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation, also known as Bank ABC, has revealed it is joining the R3 distributed ledger consortium.

With the news, the bank becomes the first of its kind in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region to join the effort. Majority-controlled by Libya's central bank, Bank ABC operates in Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan, among other areas.

In statements, Bank ABC indicated that it plans to leverage the partnership to provide additional services to its customers. Blockchain, the institution said, "will propel us further to achieve our strategic goals."

Sael Al Waary, deputy group CEO for the bank, said:

Though it's the first MENA-based bank to join R3 – which unveiled more than $100 million in new funding in May and launched the beta of its Corda software platform a month later – Bank ABC isn't the only bank in the region to pursue potential blockchain applications.

As previously reported, Emirates NBD, one of the Middle East's largest banking groups, has already been working with the central bank of the United Arab Emirates on a blockchain trial focused on bank check fraud.

Image via Bank ABC website