DBS (DBS, D05) and Citibank (C) announced that the two sides completed the first cross-border weekend USD payment transaction using tokenized deposits on the Swift digital ledger.
The transaction was conducted on September 5 between the DBS office in Singapore and the Citibank office in New York, with the entire settlement process taking only several minutes. In comparison, traditional cross-border payments can typically take up to two business days to complete.
This transaction is also the second real-time transaction currently confirmed as completed on the Swift blockchain ledger. Previously, HSBC and Standard Chartered completed the first cross-border real-time transfer through the ledger in August.
The ongoing trials come as Swift faces competition from stablecoins and tokenized deposits for around-the-clock settlement, and have also prompted the market to focus on whether the 53-year-old global messaging network can complete its technological transformation quickly enough to maintain its relevance in the cross-border payments field.
Swift launched its blockchain ledger in July, when 17 banks participated in the related project.
For cross-border fund flows between Asia and the United States, weekends have always been a gap in the traditional payment system. If a corporate treasurer transfers funds from Singapore to New York on Friday, under the traditional process, the funds can only be processed as early as the following Monday.
DBS said in a statement that for companies already operating digitally around the clock, this weekend payment gap could cause delays in supplier payments and funds being frozen, thereby increasing funding costs.
At the same time, the potential of blockchain applications in corporate liquidity and foreign exchange management is also attracting the attention of financial institutions. According to a global survey by DBS, half of financial industry leaders are currently exploring the potential value of blockchain in liquidity management and foreign exchange management.
The cross-border payments market itself is also expected to continue expanding. According to reports from Money 20/20 and FXC Intelligence cited by DBS, by 2033, the scale of Asia’s cross-border outbound payments is expected to reach $24 trillion, close to twice the $13.5 trillion scale in 2025.
In the Swift digital ledger project, DBS is the only bank headquartered in Asia among the 12 banks on the core design team.
The pilot project was launched in July, with 17 banks from six continents participating, further expanding Swift’s testing scope for blockchain ledger and around-the-clock cross-border payment capabilities.
Mridula Iyer, head of South Asia services at Citibank, said that achieving real-time transactions on weekends means that around-the-clock cross-border payments are gradually moving from the testing stage toward reality.
“Processing real-time transactions on weekends shows that around-the-clock cross-border payments have become a reality,” Mridula Iyer said.