Citi, DBS test instant U.S.-Singapore payments

Citi and DBS completed a tokenized U.S. dollar payment between Singapore and New York on Sept. 5, processing the weekend transaction within minutes through Swift’s blockchain-based ledger.

DBS announced the transaction on Monday, describing it as the first successful weekend U.S. dollar payment between Singapore and the United States using Swift’s Digital Ledger.

The payment connected DBS with Citi’s New York office. Neither bank disclosed the transaction’s value, participating customer or applicable fees. The lack of those details limits comparisons with existing cross-border payment products.

DBS said the transaction took minutes, compared with an industry norm of up to two business days. That comparison is the bank’s assessment. Processing times for conventional payments vary by corridor, participating institutions, compliance checks and payment method.

The Saturday transfer demonstrated that participating banks can coordinate tokenized deposit instructions outside conventional operating hours. It did not establish that the service is broadly available to corporate customers across every market.

Swift’s ledger coordinates separate bank systems

Tokenized deposits represent claims against commercial banks. They remain bank liabilities rather than privately issued stablecoins backed by separate reserve portfolios.

Swift’s ledger acts as an orchestration layer between deposits issued on participating banks’ own systems. It records, sequences and validates payment obligations while applying transaction rules through smart contracts.

Final settlement still occurs through established banking systems. The design therefore uses blockchain to coordinate value between institutions without placing every part of the transaction or final conventional settlement onchain.

As crypto.news previously explained, the platform coordinates bank-issued money rather than public stablecoins. This distinction allows banks to preserve existing compliance, credit and risk controls while extending payment availability beyond normal cut-off times.

The Citi-DBS payment followed the first live interbank transaction between HSBC and Standard Chartered in August. That transaction also connected independently operated tokenized deposit systems through Swift’s shared ledger.

Citi expands its live Swift payment tests

Citi had already completed live transactions with First Abu Dhabi Bank and Singapore-based OCBC before working with DBS. The bank said it became the first U.S. bank to conduct live native transactions on Swift’s ledger.

Citi expected to conduct additional transactions with DBS and United Overseas Bank during September. The completed weekend payment confirms the DBS portion of that schedule.

The tests complement Citi’s existing digital payment services. The bank said Citi Token Services processes approximately $1 billion in transactions through its blockchain platform, while its round-the-clock dollar clearing service supports more than 300 banking clients.

Those figures come from Citi and have not been independently audited within the transaction announcement. Citi also did not provide a commercial launch date for customer access to Swift’s ledger.

Citi is separately involved in a bank-owned U.S. tokenized deposit project. As previously reported, major U.S. banks are targeting a 2027 network launch through The Clearing House.

DBS and Swift prepare for wider deployment

DBS introduced its own blockchain-powered Token Services platform in 2024. Its products include Treasury Tokens, which support programmable transfers and liquidity management on the bank’s permissioned blockchain.

The bank is also the only Asian-headquartered institution in Swift’s 12-member core design group. Rachel Chew, DBS’s group chief operating officer and co-head of digital assets, said the transaction showed tokenized money moving from experimentation toward “real-world adoption.” Wider adoption, however, will require more corridors, banks and production customers.

Swift opened its ledger for initial use in July after developing the first version in nine months. Seventeen banks across six continents joined the initial live transaction program.

The participating institutions include Citi, DBS, HSBC, BNP Paribas, BNY, Standard Chartered, UBS, Wells Fargo, ANZ and MUFG. Crypto.news reported at the time that Swift’s initial rollout targeted continuous cross-border payments.

The next test is whether banks can move beyond controlled institutional transactions to recurring customer payments at commercial scale. Swift and the participating banks have not disclosed a full production timetable, pricing model or expected transaction capacity.