DBS and Citigroup Successfully Process Dollar Payments Over the Weekend

DBS and Citigroup utilized tokenized deposits to process dollar payments between Singapore and the United States in just a matter of minutes over the weekend. This transaction took place on September 5 and employed SWIFT's digital ledger. Traditional cross-border payments can take up to two days, but this case demonstrates a change in banking payment infrastructure. Tokenized deposits are recorded on a blockchain basis, with the bank retaining the liability to the customer. When a company makes a payment in New York using funds from a Singapore account, the traditional method required moving funds in advance due to time zone differences and weekend closures. However, even though tokenized deposits extend the payment window, costs and operational burdens still exist. The BIS explained that tokenized deposits could be more advantageous than stablecoins when settled in central bank money, but pointed out that an interoperable ecosystem has not yet been established. Additionally, 21 financial institutions plan to establish a company to support the issuance of stablecoins in the second half of 2026 and launch US dollar-based products in the first half of 2027. In Singapore, DBS, OCBC, and UOB completed transactions involving tokenized Singapore dollar deposits using the SWIFT ledger on September 10.