The journey toward real-time, cross-border payments reached a significant milestone as HSBC and Standard Chartered successfully executed the first live bank-to-bank tokenised deposit transaction on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger.
The transaction demonstrates how regulated financial institutions can issue, transfer, record and settle tokenised deposits through a shared blockchain-enabled infrastructure while maintaining the existing safeguards and regulatory oversight of the banking system.
The achievement builds on Swift’s July 2026 announcement that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use, with 17 banks across six continents preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenised deposits. The HSBC and Standard Chartered transaction is the first interbank transaction completed on the platform.
According to the banks, the transaction involved the exchange of payment messages between HSBC and Standard Chartered through Swift’s ledger. The resulting obligations were recorded as tokenised deposit obligations on HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS) and Standard Chartered’s tokenised-deposit infrastructure. Swift’s blockchain-based ledger served as a secure orchestration layer, enabling the obligations to be matched and netted between the two banks before final settlement through existing systems.
The development highlights the growing role of tokenised deposits in supporting a more connected and increasingly 24/7 global economy. By enabling interoperability between institutions, tokenised deposits have the potential to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments and liquidity management.
Commenting on the transaction, Lewis Sun, Head of Digital Currencies at HSBC, described it as a major step forward for digital money issued by banks.
“HSBC’s interoperability transaction with Standard Chartered via Swift is a landmark moment for the promise of tokenised deposits. It demonstrates how digital money issued by banks can be interoperable across institutions while maintaining the integrity and regulatory oversight of the existing financial ecosystem.”
Sun added that bringing together different infrastructures could create tangible benefits for corporate clients.
“Tokenised deposit interoperability underscores how we can bring together different infrastructures to benefit our clients. For corporates, this is about solving real-world challenges, such as moving liquidity around the world, across financial institutions, increasing cash visibility and reducing the complexities sometimes associated with traditional cross-border transactions.”
For Standard Chartered, the transaction aligns with its broader digital assets strategy focused on enabling clients to manage liquidity and value across borders.
Mark Willis, Head of Emerging Payments, Transaction Services and Digital Assets at Standard Chartered, said:
“Tokenised deposits are a key pillar of Standard Chartered’s digital assets strategy which aims to build end-to-end solutions that enable our clients to transact, settle and manage tokenised liquidity and value across borders.”
He noted that the successful transaction demonstrates the industry’s progress toward continuous, always-on financial services.
“We are pleased to partner with HSBC on executing the first live transaction on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger marking an important step towards more seamless, always-on financial services.”
Willis also highlighted the growing demand from institutions for more efficient liquidity management solutions.
“As institutional demand grows for faster, more efficient ways to move liquidity and optimise working capital increase, interoperable tokenised deposits will play an increasingly important role in helping corporate and institutional clients manage treasury, unlock operational efficiencies and support real time liquidity management across markets.”
The live transaction forms part of a broader industry effort to leverage distributed ledger technology for real-world payment use cases at scale while preserving the role of regulated bank money. As the financial sector continues to explore tokenisation, the successful interoperability between HSBC and Standard Chartered signals growing momentum toward more efficient cross-border payment infrastructures.