Citi and DBS Complete First Weekend Tokenized Cross-Border Payment on Swift Ledger

Citi and DBS have completed their first tokenized cross-border transfer conducted over the weekend, using Swift's blockchain-based Digital Ledger to bypass the time constraints of traditional banking hours. The Singapore-based financial services group DBS and US banking giant Citi executed the tokenized deposit between Singapore and the United States on Saturday, with DBS confirming the milestone on Monday.

The transaction settled in minutes, a dramatic improvement over the industry standard of up to two business days for conventional cross-border transfers, according to DBS. The test demonstrates how established financial institutions are increasingly adopting distributed ledger technology to streamline international settlements while keeping deposits within regulated banking channels. Standard Chartered and HSBC had previously completed the first tokenized cross-border transaction on Swift's blockchain ledger back in August.

Swift, the world's largest financial messaging network, announced in July that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use, with pilots underway involving 17 major banks including Citi, DBS, HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ, and Standard Chartered. Beyond its Swift participation, Citi is also part of a consortium of large US banks planning to launch a separate tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027, operated by The Clearing House. In a parallel development, DBS and JPMorgan revealed plans in November 2025 to build a blockchain-based tokenization framework enabling onchain transfers between their respective deposit token ecosystems, signaling a broader industry push toward standardized cross-bank digital payments.