Catenaa, Friday, September 11, 2026- DBS and Citi said Monday they completed the first weekend US dollar payment between Singapore and the United States using tokenized deposits.
The Sept. 5 transaction between DBS and Citi’s New York office settled within minutes through Swift’s Digital Ledger.
Traditional cross-border payments can take two business days because of banking-hour, weekend and time-zone restrictions.
The transfer showed that bank deposits can move between jurisdictions outside banking hours without relying on cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.
Tokenized deposits are digital representations of bank money recorded on blockchain infrastructure while remaining claims against issuing institutions.
The banks did not disclose the transaction’s value.
DBS said round-the-clock settlement could give companies access to cash when paying suppliers and customers across time zones.
The service could benefit e-commerce and digital-services businesses operating continuously while traditional settlement systems pause during weekends.
Citi joined Swift’s cross-border payments pilot in July and has developed tokenized deposit services supporting near-instant transfers across markets.
Swift’s pilot involves 17 banks testing tokenized payments through infrastructure connecting regulated institutions.
DBS is the only Asian-headquartered member of Swift’s 12-bank Digital Ledger core design group.
The Singapore lender launched DBS Treasury Tokens in 2024 to support liquidity management through blockchain-based banking infrastructure.
Citi is also working with major US banks on a separate tokenized deposit network through The Clearing House.
That project is targeted for launch during the first half of 2027.
The weekend transfer shows banks adopting blockchain technology for continuous payments while keeping deposits within banking systems.
