Wells Fargo Brings the Stablecoin Fight Inside the Bank

Corporate treasurers may soon get the speed and programmability associated with stablecoins without moving their cash outside the banking system.

Wells Fargo said it will begin offering tokenized deposits to select corporate and commercial clients this fall. The blockchain-based service will initially support transfers between U.S. dollars and British pounds, allowing participating companies to move, program and settle funds around the clock. Wells Fargo plans to add clients, countries and currencies during 2027.

The announcement places Wells Fargo alongside JPMorgan and Citi in a widening contest over who will provide the digital money used for corporate payments. Stablecoin issuers have demonstrated that funds can move across borders and outside banking hours. Banks are responding by applying similar technology to deposits that remain within regulated institutions.

That distinction goes to the center of the emerging competition.

A stablecoin is generally backed by reserves held by its issuer and can move between participating wallets and platforms. A tokenized deposit remains a commercial bank liability, much like the balance displayed in a corporate checking account. The blockchain changes how the deposit moves and what companies can program it to do. It doesn’t change the basic relationship between the depositor and the bank.

For companies, that could remove a significant obstacle to blockchain adoption. Treasury departments wouldn’t need to convert bank deposits into a separate digital asset, manage an additional issuer relationship or create new procedures for holding and redeeming stablecoins. The funds would remain connected to existing compliance, liquidity and cash-management systems.

Wells Fargo is entering a field that has moved beyond experimentation. JPMorgan’s JPM Coin supports round-the-clock institutional settlement, while Citi Token Services enables clients to move liquidity across participating markets outside normal banking hours. Citi has also tested smart contracts that automatically release payment after a commercial condition, such as delivery of fuel to a ship, has been satisfied.

That programmability could prove more consequential than raw speed. A company could connect payment to the receipt of goods, approval of an invoice or completion of a contractual milestone. The payment instruction, business condition and record of settlement could become parts of the same workflow. That would reduce the manual handoffs that create reconciliation work and payment disputes.

Banks also bring a structural advantage. They already hold corporate operating deposits and provide credit, foreign exchange, fraud controls and liquidity services. The Bank for International Settlements has argued that tokenized commercial bank money can deliver many benefits of programmable payments while preserving a financial system anchored by central bank reserves. It has raised concerns that current stablecoin designs depend on prefunded reserves and may not always preserve convertibility at par.

Stablecoins retain an important advantage of their own: reach. They can move across platforms, countries and digital-asset networks without requiring both parties to bank with the same institution. A tokenized deposit operating inside one bank’s network risks becoming a faster version of a closed system.

That makes interoperability the next test. Wells Fargo says its service will eventually connect with a broader tokenized-deposit network and selected private networks. The value for corporate clients will rise sharply when a Wells Fargo tokenized deposit can reach a supplier using another bank without losing its speed, programmability or compliance information.

The banks have shown they can put deposits on blockchain rails. Now they must show those deposits can travel.