SWIFT Goes Onchain After Hours: 17 Banks Pilot Tokenized Deposits While Settlement Snoozes 😴

SWIFT, the interbank messaging network connecting more than 11,500 financial institutions across over 200 countries and territories, said its blockchain-based ledger is ready for initial use after nine months of development, with 17 major banks preparing to pilot cross-border tokenized deposit payments on the new system. Participating institutions include HSBC, Citi, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ, DBS, Standard Chartered, BNY, Wells Fargo, Lloyds Bank, MUFG Bank, OCBC, UOB, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, Itaú Unibanco and Mashreq, spanning six continents. Several of the participating banks are designated Global Systemically Important Banks by the Financial Stability Board, including BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, UBS and Wells Fargo.

The shared ledger acts as an orchestration layer that allows banks to move tokenized deposits issued on their own ledgers, enabling customers to send funds overnight and on weekends before completing final settlement through existing payment systems. The approach is designed to improve liquidity management and payment flexibility without changing the compliance, credit, risk and control frameworks already embedded in the global banking system. Final fiat settlement, however, still depends on legacy rails that operate during business hours, while the tokenized layer runs continuously.

"We are redefining cross-border payments with Swift's new blockchain-based ledger—combining tokenized deposits with our global network to deliver instant, always-on money movement," Mahesh Kini, global head of cash management at Standard Chartered, said. Thierry Chilosi, chief business officer at SWIFT, called the addition a "key milestone for regulated digital assets" that could lay the foundation for programmable money and agentic commerce, adding that "it allows tokenised value to move across borders with the velocity and flexibility modern commerce expects, while maintaining the same high levels of resiliency, security, and compliance global finance requires." SWIFT said 75% of payments on its existing network already reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, often in seconds.

The launch follows separate moves across traditional finance to expand tokenization. A consortium of major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Barclays, BNY and Wells Fargo, announced plans to launch a tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027, with The Clearing House set to operate the system and connect traditional payment rails with digital asset infrastructure for 24/7 settlement. On March 24, the New York Stock Exchange partnered with tokenization platform Securitize to build blockchain-based infrastructure for tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds, while the NYSE's parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), shared plans in January for a tokenized securities venue designed for 24/7 trading, instant settlement, stablecoin-based funding and onchain settlement. SWIFT noted in a March blog post that its network features architecture compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), though the cooperative's environment remains centralized, with banks maintaining authority over their own assets.