DBS and Citi Launch Instant Tokenized Cross-Border Payments

Citi and DBS made the first successful Singapore-to-U.S. dollar payment conducted on a weekend, according to a Sunday (Sept. 6) press release.

The Saturday (Sept. 5) transaction was executed using tokenized deposits via the Swift Digital Ledger, the release said.

Companies that transact in U.S. dollars across jurisdictions and time zones can now execute cross-border payments outside of regular banking hours, per the release.

“The transaction took minutes to complete, marking a significant improvement from the industry norm of up to two business days for cross-border payments, as companies no longer lose days to time zone and weekend gaps,” the release said. “For institutions operating in round-the-clock borderless industries like eCommerce and digital services, this provides greater certainty and faster access to cash for suppliers and customers. In addition, corporate treasurers can respond more effectively to changing market conditions by moving liquidity across entities and markets at a moment’s notice.”

The partnership is happening as half of finance leaders explore “blockchain-powered capabilities as part of their liquidity and FX management toolkit,” according to the release. The capability helps address growing demand for cross-border transactions in Asia, with the region’s outgoing cross-border payments forecast to jump to $24 trillion by 2033, almost twice that of 2025 volumes.

Citi last week announced it was the first bank in the United States to have processed live transactions on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, working in collaboration with First Abu Dhabi Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation.

“Processing a live transaction over a weekend demonstrates that always-on cross-border payments are already a reality,” Mridula Iyer, head of services for Citi’s Asia South cluster, said of the DBS partnership in the press release. “This work is a natural extension of our strategy in the services business to integrate our traditional cash management and securities capabilities with emerging tokenized networks and assets and deliver value to institutional clients across their local and global operating models.”

Tokenization is establishing new intermediaries rather than doing away with existing ones, PYMNTS reported Aug. 12.

“Tokenization exposes the fact that some friction exists because markets need it,” the report said. “Instant atomic settlement can eliminate the period in which one party has delivered an asset but has not yet received payment. That reduces settlement and counterparty risk, but it also removes time.”