Swift readies blockchain ledger for bank payment pilots

Swift has made its blockchain-based ledger ready for initial use, with 17 banks preparing to pilot live cross-border transactions using tokenised deposits.

The group spans six continents, making it one of the broadest early tests of tokenised money for international payments within the regulated banking system.

The launch moves Swift from development into an early operational phase for a shared ledger that lets banks coordinate transfers of bank-issued tokenised deposits on their own ledgers. Participating institutions will be able to support payments outside traditional operating hours, including overnight and at weekends, before final settlement is completed through existing systems.

Built in nine months with feedback from international financial institutions, the ledger forms part of Swift's existing global financial messaging infrastructure rather than replacing established payment rails.

The banks preparing to pilot live transactions are ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and Wells Fargo.

This is Swift's first live use case for the ledger. It comes as large banks and market infrastructure providers seek ways to move tokenised forms of money across borders without creating separate networks outside existing compliance and control frameworks.

Under the model, banks issue tokenised deposits on their own platforms while Swift's ledger acts as a coordination layer. The structure is intended to enable institutions to maintain existing standards for compliance, credit, and risk management while extending payment availability beyond the conventional correspondent banking timetable.

Thierry Chilosi, Chief Business Officer at Swift, outlined the company's position on the launch.

"With our new ledger capability, we're extending the trust and stability of established finance into the frontiers of digital money. It allows tokenised value to move across borders with the velocity and flexibility modern commerce expects, while maintaining the high levels of resiliency, security and compliance global finance requires. The strong support from banks shows the practical value of this approach, one that will help scale benefits globally while creating a foundation for future innovation in areas like programmable money and agentic commerce," Chilosi said.

Bank pilots

Several participating banks described the pilot as a practical test of whether tokenised deposits can improve payment timing and liquidity management for corporate clients.

"Swift's digital ledger initiative is an important step in advancing real-time, always-on cross-border payment capabilities. By combining Swift's trusted network with this new infrastructure, we see strong potential to help customers move funds in real time and manage liquidity more flexibly. Building on our deep experience in digital assets, ANZ is committed to working with Swift and global partners to securely scale next-generation payments infrastructure and deliver more efficient, always-on payments capabilities," said Lisa Vasic, Managing Director, Transaction Banking, ANZ.

BNP Paribas linked the pilot to its wider work in digital finance.

"We are proud to be among the first banks to pilot Swift's blockchain-based ledger, a significant milestone in the evolution of cross-border payments. This achievement reflects BNP Paribas' ongoing collaboration with Swift to shape the next phases of the ledger's development. By supporting this initiative, we reaffirm our commitment to industrialising digital finance at scale. Our goal is clear: to deliver measurable value to corporate clients through faster, more transparent and more secure transactions," said Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Payments, Trade Solutions and Factoring for the BNP Paribas Group.

Other lenders emphasised interoperability with current systems rather than wholesale replacement. That has become central to the banking industry's approach to distributed ledger projects after earlier experiments often struggled to connect with established rails and control environments.

"We are pleased to continue collaborating with Swift on the use of shared ledger technology to support greater interoperability in cross-border payments. This work is an important step in understanding how these capabilities may evolve over time in a way that complements existing infrastructure and meets the needs of clients globally," said Carl Slabicki, Head of Commercial, Global Payments & Trade at BNY.

HSBC said it would connect its own tokenised deposit service to the ledger.

"At HSBC, we are leading the charge in scaling tokenised deposits across multiple markets worldwide. We are pleased to be one of the first banks to connect our Tokenised Deposit Service to Swift's new blockchain-based ledger infrastructure, building on our existing 24/7 compliant tokenised deposits capabilities. This is an important milestone in the evolution of cross-border payments and a positive step towards making them work the way our clients' businesses operate today: in real time, across time zones and without artificial cut-offs. By using tokenised deposits on a regulated, bank-issued basis and connecting them through Swift's trusted global network, we can improve liquidity efficiency, strengthen cash-flow visibility and deliver a more seamless 24/7 experience for corporates," said Manish Kohli, Head of Global Payments Solutions at HSBC.

Wider context

Swift said 75% of payments on its network already reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, and often within seconds, through upgrades to its existing services. The ledger, therefore, appears aimed less at basic speed and more at continuous availability, coordination of tokenised forms of money, and more flexible liquidity management across time zones.

The development also reflects a wider push among banks to explore regulated digital assets without relying on public cryptocurrencies or unregulated settlement arrangements. Tokenised deposits differ from stablecoins because regulated banks issue them as representations of commercial bank money.

For banks, one attraction is the ability to move customer funds at any time while preserving established settlement, compliance and reporting structures. For corporate treasurers, the appeal lies in using funds outside local market hours and reducing idle balances held to manage cut-off times in different jurisdictions.

"We see interoperability as the key enabler for scaling tokenised deposits beyond individual institutions. Swift's ledger is an important industry initiative that can help connect digital money networks, supporting real-time settlement, greater liquidity mobility and the broader adoption of tokenised payments and digital assets across the global financial ecosystem," said Andreas Kubli, Managing Director, Group Head of Digital Assets at UBS.