Singapore-to-New York dollar transfer drops from two days to minutes on Swift's tokenized ledger

What happened

DBS and Citi used tokenized deposits, which are digital versions of bank money, over Swift's Digital Ledger. They settled the first weekend dollar payment between Singapore and New York in minutes, instead of the usual two days.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

This shows banks can speed up cross-border payments dramatically, cutting the time from two days to minutes. Faster settlement could reduce the need for cash on hand during transfers and lower costs for banks and their customers.

Analyst inference

Banks are testing tokenized deposits, meaning digital money on a shared ledger, to modernize older payment systems. If this technology becomes common, it may change how banks handle international money movement and could influence their spending on new software.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Watch whether DBS and Citi expand this weekend dollar payment service beyond this single first settlement to more customers and currencies in the coming months. Confirmed
2. Pay attention to other banks that may announce similar tokenized deposit trials with Swift, since wider adoption would signal a shift in how international payments are processed. Proposed
3. Monitor if banks reduce their use of pre-funded accounts for cross-border payments, which would show they trust the ledger technology and could free up cash they currently hold. Analyst inference

Evidence

• cryptopolitan.com