Citi and DBS Complete First Weekend Tokenized Cross-Border Deposit Transfer on Swift

Citi and Singaporean banking group DBS have completed their first weekend cross-border transfer using tokenized deposits, demonstrating how blockchain-based payment infrastructure could allow banks to move funds beyond traditional banking hours.

The transaction, completed on Saturday between Singapore and the United States, was processed through Swift’s blockchain-based Digital Ledger, according to DBS. The banks used tokenized deposits to facilitate the transfer without relying on the conventional operating windows that can delay cross-border payments.

DBS said the deposit was finalized within minutes, compared with the up to two business days that can be required for traditional cross-border transfers.

The transaction adds to a growing push among major banks to use blockchain infrastructure to modernize international payments while keeping money within the established banking system.

Blockchain Payments Move Beyond Banking Hours

The weekend transaction highlights one of the more practical applications banks are exploring for tokenization: enabling cross-border transfers to settle outside conventional banking hours.

Traditional international payments can be slowed by differences in operating hours, settlement cycles and the involvement of multiple financial institutions across jurisdictions.

Tokenized deposits offer banks a way to represent commercial bank deposits on blockchain infrastructure, potentially allowing transfers to be processed more continuously.

For Citi and DBS, the latest transaction put that model to the test across the Singapore-US corridor.

The fact that the transfer was completed over a weekend is particularly significant. Rather than simply demonstrating that a tokenized transaction can move between institutions, the test showed how blockchain infrastructure could help extend cross-border payment capabilities beyond the traditional business week.

Swift Is Building a Blockchain Payment Rail

The Citi-DBS transaction forms part of Swift’s broader effort to bring blockchain infrastructure into the global banking system.

Swift, the world's largest financial messaging network, said in July that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use. The organization is developing a system for tokenized cross-border payments and preparing a pilot involving 17 major banks.

The participating institutions include Citi and DBS, alongside HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ and Standard Chartered.

The initiative reflects a broader shift in how banks are approaching blockchain technology.

Rather than creating entirely separate financial systems based on public cryptocurrencies, major institutions are increasingly exploring tokenized versions of assets and deposits that can operate within existing banking infrastructure.

That approach could allow banks to capture some of the speed and programmability associated with blockchain while retaining the familiar structure of bank deposits.

Citi and DBS Are Already Building Beyond the Swift Trial

The two banks are also pursuing tokenization initiatives outside the Swift project.

Citi is among a group of major US banks planning to launch a separate tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027. The network is expected to be operated by The Clearing House, the bank-owned payments operator.

DBS, meanwhile, has been working with JPMorgan on a blockchain-based framework for connecting their respective deposit-token ecosystems.

The two banks announced the initiative in November 2025, with the goal of enabling onchain transfers between their tokenized deposit systems and contributing to a broader framework for cross-bank payments.

These efforts suggest that tokenized deposits are moving beyond isolated experiments and becoming part of a wider race among major financial institutions to develop blockchain-based payment infrastructure.

Banks Are Taking Blockchain Into the Core of Payments

The latest Citi-DBS transaction also points to a broader evolution in institutional blockchain adoption.

Early experiments largely focused on whether financial assets could be represented and transferred onchain. The focus is now shifting toward whether those systems can solve specific problems within the existing financial infrastructure, particularly speed, availability and cross-border settlement.

For banks, tokenized deposits offer a potentially important middle ground.

They retain the underlying banking relationship while using blockchain rails to move the corresponding value. That makes the technology fundamentally different from simply replacing bank deposits with cryptocurrencies.

The weekend transaction between Citi and DBS therefore represents more than a faster transfer.

It is another indication that blockchain is increasingly being tested not as an alternative to traditional banking, but as infrastructure that could operate underneath it.