DBS (D05) and Citi (C) successfully processed their inaugural cross-border U.S. dollar transaction over the weekend utilizing tokenized deposits on Swift’s Digital Ledger, the financial institutions revealed on Monday. Completed on September 5 between DBS based in Singapore and Citi’s New York branch, the transfer cleared in mere minutes instead of the traditional banking timeframe of up to two business days.
This marks the second verified live operation on Swift’s distributed ledger network, coming on the heels of HSBC and Standard Chartered completing their initial live cross-border exchange in August. These successive trials arrive as Swift’s $1.5 quadrillion ecosystem encounters strong pressure from stablecoins and tokenized assets capable of settling 24/7, raising doubts about whether the 53-year-old messaging infrastructure can modernize quickly enough to remain competitive. Swift initially launched its blockchain ledger in July alongside 17 participating global banks.
Transfers moving between Asia and the United States routinely halt throughout the weekend. A corporate treasury team transferring capital from Singapore to New York on a Friday previously had to wait until the following Monday morning at the earliest. For organizations maintaining continuous digital operations around the clock, that downtime creates financial burdens through delayed vendor settlements and locked-up liquidity, as noted by DBS in their official release.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/07/dbs-and-citi-enable-instant-24-7-cross-border-tokenised-deposit-payments-on-the-swift-ledger.
