DBS, Citigroup complete first weekend dollar payment in minutes on Swift Digital Ledger

  • DBS and Citi completed Swift Digital Ledger's weekend tokenized-dollar payment between Singapore and New York.
  • September 5 transfer settled in minutes, versus up to two business days.
  • HSBC and Standard Chartered completed the ledger's first live cross-border transfer in August.

DBS and Citi completed a tokenized U.S. dollar payment between Singapore and Citi's New York office over the Sept. 5 weekend using Swift's Digital Ledger. The banks said the transfer settled within minutes, compared with an industry norm of as much as two business days, marking the first weekend cross-border dollar payment between Singapore and the United States on the platform. The transaction was described as Swift's second confirmed live cross-border ledger transfer, following an August payment between HSBC and Standard Chartered. Citi had also completed live U.S. dollar transactions on the ledger with First Abu Dhabi Bank and OCBC. Mridula Iyer, Head of Services for Asia South at Citi, said the result showed always-on cross-border payments are already operational. Swift's ledger coordinates tokenized-deposit payment obligations between banks, while final settlement remains on established banking infrastructure. The tests come as Swift's $1.5 quadrillion network faces competition from stablecoins and tokenized deposits that can operate continuously. Citi has joined Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and 18 other global financial institutions to establish a company intended to issue a U.S. dollar stablecoin. DBS said weekend delays can freeze corporate working capital, while Asia's outbound cross-border payments are forecast to rise from $13.5 trillion in 2025 to $24 trillion in 2033.

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