Citi, DBS Complete First Weekend Tokenized Deposit Transfer on Swift Ledger

Citi and Singapore's DBS have completed a cross-border transfer of tokenized deposits using Swift's blockchain-based ledger, the first such transaction carried out over a weekend.

Cointelegraph reported on September 7 that Citi and DBS transferred tokenized deposits from Singapore to the US through the Swift Digital Ledger on September 5. It was the first time the system had been used to complete a cross-border remittance on a weekend.

The transaction was processed outside normal banking hours and took only minutes from transfer to final settlement. DBS said that sharply reduced processing time, given that conventional cross-border remittances can take as long as two business days.

Swift said in July that it had completed preparations for the initial rollout of its blockchain-based digital ledger and would begin pilot operations for tokenized cross-border settlements with 17 major banks, including Citi, DBS, HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ and Standard Chartered. Last month, Standard Chartered and HSBC completed the first live tokenized cross-border transaction using the ledger.

Citi and DBS are also separately stepping up work on tokenized deposit infrastructure. Major US banks including Citi are seeking to launch a separate tokenized deposit network in the first half of next year, while DBS is developing a tokenization framework with JPMorgan that would allow interbank deposit tokens to be transferred on-chain.