Anouncement
Anouncement
NEW YORK / SINGAPORE — Citi has achieved a major milestone in institutional transaction banking by becoming the first U.S. bank to process live, native transactions on Swift’s blockchain-based shared ledger.
The achievement marks a significant step in Citi’s strategy to deliver 24/7/365, multi-bank cross-border payment solutions and tokenized asset settlements for its corporate and institutional clients worldwide.
As part of the global initiative, Citi collaborated with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) to complete the first live transaction in the Middle East region, and with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) for the first live transaction in Southeast Asia.
Swift’s shared blockchain ledger initiative is engineered to bridge traditional financial architecture with the emerging landscape of tokenized digital money. By providing a shared distributed ledger technology (DLT) environment, participating banks can achieve instant payment commitments via tokenized deposits while relying on trusted Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) engines for final settlement.
For corporate treasurers and financial institutions, the transition to shared ledger infrastructure offers three core advantages:
The pilot directly complements Citi Services’ digital asset ecosystem, which includes 24/7 USD Clearing (serving over 300 institutional bank clients) and Citi Token Services (which has already processed approximately $1 billion in transaction volume).
“We are proud to be a leader in this pivotal initiative, working alongside Swift and our esteemed bank collaborators to continue to transform the landscape of always-on payments, settlements and liquidity. This pilot represents a crucial step in exploring how we can leverage the power of shared ledger technology to create a more efficient, interoperable, and always-on global financial system.”
— Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Citi Services
“Initiatives such as the Swift Digital Ledger are bridging traditional banking infrastructures with emerging digital networks. By fostering deeper interoperability across these different ecosystems, we can achieve seamless transactions and establish common standards, which are essential for the wider adoption of tokenized money.”
— Rachel Chew, Group COO and Co-Head of Digital Assets, Global Transaction Services at DBS
“Our successful live pilot transactions with Citi mark an important step towards enabling bank-issued digital money to move efficiently and securely across borders. For corporates, this could mean faster access to funds, greater payment certainty and improved liquidity management in an increasingly always-on economy.”
— Carmen Chan, Deputy Head of Global Transaction Banking, OCBC
“Our upcoming U.S. dollar transaction with Citi on Swift’s ledger underscores the power of industry collaboration in building the next generation of payment infrastructure. These transactions demonstrate how banks can enable faster, more seamless and interoperable payment flows across markets.”
— So Lay Hua, Head of Group Transaction Banking, UOB
As the pilot phase progresses through the end of 2026, Citi and Swift plan to expand operational scope to include securities settlement, collateral management, and multi-currency tokenized deposit clearing.
The successful live deployment signals a broader industry shift: tokenized deposits and shared blockchain networks are rapidly moving from theoretical proofs-of-concept into real-world, commercial production rails for institutional banking.
