Citi Launches Citi Token Services in Japan and UAE for 24/7 Cross-Border Dollar Transfers

Citi has launched a corporate payment service in Japan using tokenized deposits.

According to Japan's Nada News on September 29, Citi said it began offering Citi Token Services to corporate clients in Japan and the United Arab Emirates a day earlier.

Clients in Japan can transfer US dollars on a near-real-time basis to their own accounts or to accounts of other customers in supported markets including the US, the UK and Singapore. Cross-border fund transfers are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Tokenized deposits allow bank deposits to be transferred on a blockchain. The service is processed on a permissioned blockchain managed by Citi and does not require a separate crypto wallet or the opening of a new bank account. Clients can instruct transfers through their existing accounts and online banking.

With the addition of Japan and the UAE, Citi Token Services is now available in seven markets: the US, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, Japan and the UAE. The service supports US dollars in Japan and US dollars and euros in the UAE.

Citi expects the service to reduce constraints related to bank business hours, holidays and time-zone differences. It also sees the offering lowering the burden on companies that need to pre-position funds at overseas locations.

Citi also announced an expansion of its partnership with Coinbase on the same day. In the US, it plans to support its corporate clients in settling stablecoin payments into fiat currency.