Swift has announced the readiness of its blockchain-based ledger for initial use, marking a decisive step toward scaling the benefits of digital value across the regulated global financial system. This new ledger enables early adopter financial institutions to support 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenised deposits, unlocking faster and more flexible money movement worldwide.

Thierry Chilosi, Chief Business Officer at Swift, said, “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 same 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.”

Global pilot with 17 banks across continents

17 banks from six continents are preparing to pilot live transactions on the ledger, reflecting strong global demand for this addition to Swift’s technology stack. The banks are ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), FirstRand Bank Limited, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank. Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB, and Wells Fargo.

The shared ledger provides participating banks with a secure orchestration layer for bank-issued tokenised deposits on their own ledgers, allowing funds to be moved for customers, including overnight and on weekends, before final settlement through existing systems.

This capability improves client experience and enhances global liquidity efficiency without compromising compliance, credit, risk, and control standards embedded in current payment processing frameworks.

The ledger is Swift’s first use case since its announcement last year and was designed and built with feedback from international financial institutions in just nine months. 

It sets the stage for next-generation innovation and interoperability on infrastructure already trusted to move the equivalent of world GDP every two to three days between more than 200 markets, while maintaining record operational excellence.

Expanding functionality and industry upgrades

Following the initial controlled go-live phase, the ledger will expand in functionality and availability. It builds upon recent improvements Swift and its community have made to existing payment rails. Currently, 75% of payments on the network reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, often in seconds.

Swift is advancing the industry to meet G20 targets for international transactions by implementing a retail payments framework that ensures upfront transparency on fees, full value delivery, and a faster, more consistent consumer experience. 

Together with the ledger, these upgrades provide a strong foundation for the future, enabling value to move in any regulated form, anywhere, with the highest levels of security and resilience.

Industry perspectives 

Lisa Vasic, Managing Director Transaction Banking at ANZ, said, “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.”

Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Payments, Trade Solutions and Factoring at BNP Paribas, said, “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.”

Carl Slabicki, Head of Commercial, Global Payments & Trade at BNY Mellon, added, “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.”

Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services at Citi, noted, “The launch of Swift’s blockchain-based ledger represents an important step towards enabling always-on payments and liquidity. Collaborating on this initiative reinforces Citi’s commitment to our clients for making cross-border money movement seamless and instant. Leveraging Swift’s innovative blockchain-based messaging infrastructure allows us to create interoperable payment solutions, powered by Citi’s network, enhancing our ability to serve our global clients with greater speed, resilience and security.”

Lim Soon Chong, Group Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS, said, “Blockchain-based ledgers and tokenised money enable banks to deliver greater speed, transparency and real-time liquidity to better support client needs. Interoperability with existing payment rails and application in real-world use cases will be critical for these capabilities to scale.”

“By leveraging Swift’s extensive network with DBS’ track record in tokenised deposits and cross-border payments, we can contribute meaningfully as one of the pioneer banks on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger – underscoring our commitment towards shaping a resilient and future-ready global banking system.”

Manish Kohli, Head of Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, added, “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.”

Kim Verhaaf, Managing Director for Payments at Lloyds Banking Group, commented, “This marks progress in the development of on-chain ecosystems. As an early participant, we have supported the development of Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, reflecting the value of industry collaboration in advancing digital finance.”

Joel Van Dusen, Group Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at Mashreq, quoted, “Mashreq is committed to shaping the future of financial services through innovation in digital banking. By collaborating with Swift to utilise next generation ledger technologies, we will enable faster settlement and enhance the security of transaction processing for our clients.”

Masahiro Matsumoto, Senior Fellow, Global Head of Transaction Banking at MUFG Bank, said, “MUFG Bank is proud to join Swift and global industry partners in advancing the exploration of next-generation financial market infrastructure. We see strong potential for tokenised deposits and distributed ledger technology to contribute to more efficient and transparent cross-border payments and liquidity management over time.”

“Through our participation in this initiative, we are focusing on piloting and evaluating practical use cases, while carefully considering how these innovations can be integrated into existing financial ecosystems in a safe, scalable, and client-centric manner.”

Melvyn Low, Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at OCBC, added, “OCBC has been building our blockchain and tokenisation capabilities as part of a broader focus on strengthening our AI, Digital and Data expertise. We look forward to working with Swift and the partner banks to enable real-time, 24/7 cross-border tokenised transactions leveraging the Swift ledger, to better serve the payment needs of our customers.”

Mahesh Kini, Global Head of Cash Management at Standard Chartered, said, “We are redefining cross-border payments with Swift’s new blockchain-based ledger – combining tokenised deposits with our global network to deliver instant, always-on money movement.”

“This will position our FI and Corporate clients at the forefront of payments innovation – unlocking real-time visibility, enhanced liquidity control, and the speed needed to stay ahead in managing capital globally.”

Andreas Kubli, Managing Director, Group Head of Digital Assets at UBS, stated, “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.”

So Lay Hua, Head of Group Transaction Banking at UOB, added, “Swift’s blockchain-based ledger has moved from concept to live infrastructure, marking an important step towards practical adoption of new payment capabilities. For businesses, real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments can improve settlement speed, liquidity efficiency and cash flow visibility.” 

“UOB is among the first banks in this industry collaboration, bringing our regional network and transaction banking expertise to support secure, scalable and interoperable solutions that help businesses move value with greater confidence across borders.”

Swift’s blockchain-based ledger launch and pilot is an advancement in cross-border payments, combining the trust and scale of established financial infrastructure with the innovation and flexibility of digital tokenised value.