DBS and Citi made a cross-border U.S. dollar payment between Singapore and the U.S. using tokenized deposits through SWIFT’s blockchain infrastructure. The transaction took place over the weekend and was completed within minutes.
DBS, one of Asia’s largest financial groups, and U.S. banking group Citi announced the successful completion of a payment between Singapore and Citi’s New York unit using tokenized bank deposits.
The transfer was processed through SWIFT’s blockchain ledger for international payments, which was unveiled in September 2025 and entered testing with 17 international banks in July 2026. The transaction took several minutes, while cross-border payments through traditional systems can take up to 2 business days.
The transaction demonstrated the ability to conduct interbank cross-border settlements 24/7, regardless of time zones, weekends, or traditional banking hours. For corporate clients, this reduces the gap between sending and receiving liquidity and allows funds to move between legal entities and markets as needed.
DBS and Citi see the mechanism primarily as a tool for companies that operate continuously, including e-commerce businesses and digital service providers. Round-the-clock access to settlement infrastructure allows corporate treasuries to reallocate liquidity faster and respond to changing market conditions without delaying transactions until banks open in the relevant jurisdiction.
For DBS, the initiative continued its work with tokenized bank deposits. In 2024, the bank launched blockchain services for 24/7, programmable, and instant transfers, including DBS Treasury Tokens, a DLT system for treasury and liquidity management.
Citi, meanwhile, is integrating traditional cash and securities management services with tokenized asset infrastructure. The bank views the transaction conducted with DBS as confirmation that such infrastructure can be used by institutional clients for round-the-clock cross-border settlements.
Read more about what tokenized deposits are, and why banks are interested in issuing them, in CP Media’s special features.
