DBS and Citi have completed a cross-border USD payment using tokenised deposits on the Swift Digital Ledger.
According to the announcement, the transaction was completed within minutes, compared with the up to two business days typically required for cross-border payments, as the transfer was not constrained by conventional banking hours or time-zone gaps.
Cross-border payments have traditionally been limited by banking hours, meaning transactions initiated outside business days or across time zones can be delayed until the next working day. The DBS-Citi transaction shows that tokenised deposits settled via the Swift Digital Ledger can bypass these constraints, allowing companies operating in sectors such as e-commerce and digital services to access funds outside standard hours. In addition, according to the companies, this gives corporate treasurers the ability to move liquidity across entities and markets without waiting for the next business day, which may support liquidity and foreign exchange (FX) risk management during periods of market volatility.
Liquidity management and market context
The initiative comes as institutions look for new approaches to liquidity and FX management. Citing its New Realities, New Possibilities report, DBS said 50% of finance leaders are exploring blockchain-powered capabilities as part of their liquidity and FX management strategies. The bank also pointed to projected growth in Asia's cross-border payments market, with outbound cross-border payment volumes in the region forecast to reach USD 24 trillion by 2033, nearly double the USD 13.5 trillion recorded in 2025.
Rachel Chew, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Head of Digital Assets, Global Transaction Services, DBS, said the Swift Digital Ledger is intended to connect traditional banking infrastructure with digital networks, describing the transaction with Citi as reflecting the shift of tokenised money 'from experimentation to real-world adoption'. Moreover, Mridula Iyer, Head of Services for Asia South, Citi, said the transaction demonstrates that always-on cross-border payments are achievable in practice, and described the initiative as part of Citi's strategy to integrate cash management and securities capabilities with tokenised networks.
Expanding digital asset infrastructure
The transaction builds on DBS' existing digital asset offering. In 2024, the bank launched DBS Token Services, a suite of blockchain-based banking services aimed at enabling round-the-clock, programmable value transfers. This includes DBS Treasury Tokens, a treasury and liquidity management solution built on the bank's permissioned blockchain.
