UK Banks Complete First Interbank Tokenized Deposit Transactions

Seven of the United Kingdom’s largest banks have completed the world’s first interbank customer transactions using tokenized sterling deposits, industry body UK Finance announced on September 24, moving regulated commercial bank money onto shared blockchain rails for the first time. The live payments ran through the Great British Tokenised Deposit (GBTD) initiative, which brings together Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds Banking Group, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander on a common platform built by Quant.

How the live transactions worked

Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays executed two remortgage completions, in which deposit funds were locked and then automatically released once each property transfer was confirmed, cutting manual checks and settlement delays. A separate three-bank group including HSBC ran a customer-to-customer payment that simulated an online marketplace purchase, holding the buyer’s money until the goods were confirmed delivered. “These live transactions show how tokenised deposits can deliver practical, real-world benefits and contingent payments that give customers greater control over their money,” said Jana Mackintosh, UK Finance’s managing director of payments and innovation.