Absa Corporate and Investment Banking has launched Absa Digital Asset Custody, an institutional service in South Africa using Ripple's custody technology to safeguard digital assets and manage the private keys that authorize blockchain transactions. The September 21, 2026 commercial rollout follows the companies' October 15, 2025 partnership announcement, which did not yet represent a live customer service. Absa says the platform combines banking governance and compliance controls with security measures including protected hardware environments, deterministic key derivation and recovery procedures. The service is aimed at corporate and institutional customers rather than retail trading, and Absa has not disclosed supported assets, fees or initial clients. The launch comes while South African authorities consult on proposed cross-border crypto-transfer rules, with comments on the draft Crypto Assets Manual due September 30, 2026.