DBS and Citi Complete First Weekend USD Cross-Border Payment: Tokenized Deposits Settle in Minutes

BlockBeats News, September 7 — Singapore's DBS Bank and Citibank's New York branch completed their first weekend U.S. dollar payment between Singapore and the United States on September 5 via the Swift Digital Ledger, settling with tokenized deposits. DBS stated that the transaction took only minutes, whereas traditional cross-border dollar payments typically require up to two business days.

The pilot aims to overcome limitations of traditional banking hours, weekends, and cross-time-zone constraints, enabling round-the-clock cross-border fund transfers. Relevant application scenarios include cross-border e-commerce and digital services.

Citi joined Swift's 24/7 cross-border payment pilot based on tokenized deposits in July this year and plans to participate in the construction of the U.S. tokenized deposit network. DBS, meanwhile, launched a blockchain-based banking system in 2024, including DBS Treasury Tokens for liquidity management.