DBS and Citibank Complete Tokenized Deposit Cross-Border Payment via SWIFT Digital Ledger in Minutes

According to ME News, on September 9 (UTC+8), DBS and Citibank’s New York office completed a cross-border USD payment between Singapore and the United States on September 5 using Swift’s digital ledger and tokenized deposits. The transaction, executed over the weekend, took only minutes—compared to traditional cross-border payments, which typically require up to two business days. This marks the second confirmed real-time application of Swift’s digital ledger, following the first real-time cross-border transaction using tokenized deposits by HSBC and Standard Chartered in August. Swift announced on July 9 that its digital ledger was available for initial use, with 17 banks prepared to participate in the pilot. DBS is the only bank among the 12 core design group members headquartered in Asia. Rachel Chew, Chief Operating Officer of DBS Group, stated that Swift’s digital ledger is connecting traditional banking infrastructure with emerging digital networks. Mridula Iyer, Head of South Asia Services at Citibank, noted that this weekend’s real-time transaction demonstrates that 24/7 cross-border payments have become a reality. DBS launched DBS Token Services in 2024, offering round-the-clock programmable instant value transfer services. (Source: ODAILY)