Citi, DBS complete first weekend tokenized cross-border deposit on Swift

Singapore-based financial services group DBS and American financial services giant Citi completed the first weekend tokenized cross-border payment between Singapore and the US on Saturday.

The two companies executed the transaction using tokenized deposits via the Swift Digital Ledger to bypass the constraints of traditional banking hours, DBS announced on Monday.

The deposit was finalized in minutes, which DBS called a “significant improvement” from the industry norm of as long as two business days for traditional cross-border transfers.

The transaction demonstrates how traditional banks are exploring blockchain rails for more efficient cross-border transactions while aiming to keep deposits inside banking channels. Standard Chartered and HSBC were the first to complete a tokenized cross-border transaction on Swift’s blockchain ledger in August.

In July, Swift, the world’s largest financial messaging network, said that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use and that it was preparing to pilot tokenized cross-border payments with 17 major banks, including Citi and DBS, as well as HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ and Standard Chartered.

Citi is also one of a group of the largest US banks that plan to launch a separate tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027 operated by The Clearing House, David Watson, CEO of the bank-owned payments operator, told The Wall Street Journal in June.