For years, transaction banking in the Middle East and Africa has been framed through the lens of constraint: de‑risking, regulatory complexity, dollar dependence and fragmented infrastructure. Correspondent banking was said to be in retreat, and cross‑border payments in Africa have been seen as structurally inefficient. But across MEA, the reality is more nuanced – and far more dynamic.
Transaction banking is being quietly re‑engineered. Banks are sharpening corridor strategies, layering new payment rails onto existing networks and investing in real‑time visibility without abandoning balance‑sheet fundamentals. From Africa’s push to reduce settlement and FX risk in intra‑regional trade, to the Gulf’s shift from payments speed to liquidity orchestration and data integration, a more selective, hybrid model is taking shape.
Explore how MEA banks are redesigning correspondent banking, why FX and trust remain the binding constraints on intra‑African trade, and what comes next in countries such as Bahrain as real‑time payment rails become the baseline rather than the differentiator.
