DBS and Citi Complete First Weekend Cross-Border Payment on Swift Ledger

DBS and Citi have completed the first weekend cross-border USD payment between Singapore and the United States, the banks said in a joint announcement on Sept. 7. The transaction, executed by DBS and Citi’s New York office on Sept. 5, settled in minutes using tokenised deposits on the Swift Digital Ledger, rather than the up to two business days that cross-border payments typically take.

“In a global digital economy that never sleeps, businesses need to move money more quickly and efficiently across borders to stay competitive,” said Rachel Chew, DBS’ group chief operating officer and co-head of digital assets for global transaction services.

How the weekend payment worked

The banks moved a live USD payment between Singapore and New York over a weekend, when traditional correspondent banking rails are closed. The payment was recorded on Swift’s blockchain-based digital ledger using tokenised deposits, which represent claims on bank money that can be transferred around the clock.

The settlement expands an effort that has already seen Citi complete live transactions on the network. DBS said the capability removes time-zone and weekend gaps for companies in e-commerce and digital services, letting corporate treasurers move liquidity between entities at a moment’s notice.

Why banks are racing to tokenise deposits

The move reflects a broader push by banks to modernise cross-border rails. DBS said half of finance leaders are exploring blockchain-powered capabilities for liquidity and foreign-exchange management, and it cited projections that Asia’s outbound cross-border payments will reach USD 24 trillion by 2033, nearly double 2025 volumes.

For Citi, the weekend settlement is part of a strategy to integrate traditional cash management with tokenised networks. “Processing a live transaction over a weekend demonstrates that always-on cross-border payments are already a reality,” said Mridula Iyer, Citi’s head of services for Asia South.

DBS’s growing tokenised money business

DBS launched DBS Token Services in 2024, a suite of blockchain-powered banking services that includes its DBS Treasury Tokens for treasury and liquidity management. The bank is also the only Asian-headquartered institution in the Swift digital ledger core design group of 12 banks shaping its architecture.

The Singapore lender joins rivals including HSBC and Standard Chartered, which completed the first live tokenised deposit transaction on Swift’s ledger earlier this year. While the technology remains in its early stages, the weekend payment shows tokenised money moving from experimentation toward real-world adoption.