Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first live cross-border tokenised deposit transaction on Swift's blockchain-based ledger.
The UK-based banks confirmed the transaction represents the first interbank use case executed on the infrastructure, following Swift's announcement in July 2026 that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use. At that stage, 17 banks across six continents had been named as participants preparing to pilot tokenised deposit transactions aimed at supporting 24/7 payment availability and liquidity efficiency.
How the transaction was processed
The transaction was performed through the exchange of payment messages between HSBC and Standard Chartered over Swift's ledger. The obligations that resulted were registered as tokenised deposit obligations on two separate systems: HSBC's Tokenised Deposit Service and Standard Chartered's tokenised-deposit infrastructure.
Swift's blockchain-based ledger functioned as an orchestration layer in the process, allowing the obligations generated by each bank to be matched and netted before final settlement took place through existing settlement systems.
Industry context and implications
Tokenised deposits usage in cross-border transactions is being explored across the banking industry to extend payment availability beyond standard operating hours and reduce the frictions associated with correspondent banking arrangements.
Lewis Sun, Head of Digital Currencies, HSBC, describes the transaction as confirmation that digital money issued by banks can move between institutions while remaining within existing regulatory oversight.
Furthermore, Craig Ramsey, Global Head, Account-to-Account Payments at ACI Worldwide, states that the live tokenised deposit transaction is proof of a concept converting to a practical application inside the existing financial system. Ramsey adds that the transaction’s significance doesn’t lie in the technology it is based on, but rather on the system’s capacity to increase liquidity across institutions.
The transaction forms part of a wider set of industry initiatives exploring how distributed ledger technology can support payment use cases at scale while preserving the role of regulated bank money within the financial system.
Other efforts are being made in the tokenised deposits world. For example, Wells Fargo, a US-based financial services company, announced to soon roll out tokenised deposits for corporates, a solution to allow consumers to move, programme, and settle funds, while maintaining the regulated banking system.
