DBS and Citi Complete Instant Cross Border Payment via SWIFT

DBS and Citi recently completed a cross border US dollar transfer between Singapore and New York in mere minutes. Unlike traditional banking systems that often take two business days to process payments, this trial utilized tokenized deposits on the SWIFT shared ledger. The transaction occurred over a weekend, proving that institutional finance can operate on a continuous schedule.

The process relied on tokenized deposits, which are essentially commercial bank money issued on a blockchain. SWIFT acted as the orchestration layer to match and net the financial obligations between the two institutions before finalizing the transfer through established payment rails. This marks a significant move toward updating global transaction infrastructure for the digital age.

This success follows a similar trial in August between HSBC and Standard Chartered. Currently, seventeen banks across six continents are testing live transactions on the SWIFT network. As Asian outbound payments are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, large banks are increasingly looking toward blockchain tools to handle foreign exchange and liquidity management with greater speed and efficiency.