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 companies announced Monday.
The transaction used tokenized deposits via the Swift Digital Ledger, allowing the banks to bypass traditional banking hour constraints. The deposit was finalized in minutes, representing a significant improvement over the industry standard of up to two business days for traditional cross-border transfers.
The transaction demonstrates how established financial institutions are adopting blockchain technology to streamline cross-border payments while maintaining deposits within traditional banking channels. Standard Chartered and HSBC previously completed a tokenized cross-border transaction on Swift's blockchain ledger in August.
Swift, the world's largest financial messaging network, announced in July that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use. The network is piloting tokenized cross-border payments with 17 major banks, including Citi, DBS, HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ, and Standard Chartered.
Citi is among the largest US banks planning to launch a separate tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027, operated by The Clearing House. In November 2025, DBS and JPMorgan revealed plans to develop a blockchain-based tokenization framework to enable onchain transfers between their deposit token ecosystems, aimed at setting an industry standard for cross-bank payments.
