Seventeen major institutions sign on to test around-the-clock liquidity and instant global value transfer.
Swift announced that its blockchain ledger is ready for initial use, enabling early adopter financial institutions to support cross-border payments around the clock using tokenized deposits.
The global cooperative, known for its vast messaging network used by banks to move money, called it a decisive step in scaling the benefits of digital value.
Cross-Border Velocity and Efficiency
So far, 17 banks from six continents are preparing to pilot live transactions on the ledger. They include ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank Limited, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and Wells Fargo. The shared ledger gives these participating banks a more secure layer for bank-issued tokenized deposits on their own ledgers, Swift argues.
Swift said banks stand to gain an improved client experience and greater global liquidity efficiency—even overnight and on weekends—without compromising existing compliance, credit, risk, and control standards.
It is the first use case for the ledger, which Swift announced last year and said it designed and built with feedback from international financial institutions in nine months. Swift said the development sets the stage for further innovation and interoperability on infrastructure, which it said is trusted to move the equivalent of world GDP every two to three days between more than 200 markets.
“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,” Thierry Chilosi, chief business officer at Swift, said in a prepared statement. “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.”
Meeting G20 Targets
Following its initial go-live phase, Swift plans to expand the ledger’s functionality and availability. This builds on its existing infrastructure, where 75% of network payments already reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, or even seconds. The upgrades aim to help the industry meet Group of 20 international transaction targets.
Swift said it is also implementing a retail payments framework with its community aimed at ensuring upfront transparency on fees, full value delivery, and a faster, more consistent experience for consumers. Together with the ledger, Swift said, those upgrades lay the groundwork for value to move in any regulated form, anywhere, with high levels of security and resilience.
Anthony Noto covers corporate finance and private credit. Contact him at anoto@gfmag.com
Facts Only
* Seventeen banks from six continents are preparing to pilot live transactions on the ledger.
* Participating banks include ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank Limited, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB, and Wells Fargo.
* The shared ledger provides a layer for bank-issued tokenized deposits on participating ledgers.
* Banks anticipate improved client experience and greater global liquidity efficiency, including overnight and weekend access.
* Swift states the development maintains existing compliance, credit, risk, and control standards.
* The ledger infrastructure is designed to move the equivalent of world GDP every two to three days between more than 200 markets.
* Swift announced the creation of this ledger and built it with international financial institutions' feedback over nine months.
* Swift plans to expand functionality following the initial go-live phase to meet G20 international transaction targets.
* A retail payments framework is being implemented for consumers focused on fee transparency and experience.
Executive Summary
Seventeen major financial institutions are preparing to pilot live transactions on Swift's new blockchain ledger for cross-border payments using tokenized deposits. This initiative aims to enable around-the-clock global value transfer. The participating banks include entities such as ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, and Wells Fargo. Swift asserts that this shared ledger provides a more secure layer for bank-issued tokenized deposits on their respective ledgers. Banks anticipate improved client experience and greater global liquidity efficiency, including overnight and weekend access, while maintaining existing regulatory controls.
The development stems from Swift's ledger infrastructure, which is claimed to facilitate the movement of value equivalent to world GDP across markets between 200 and 300 markets every two to three days. Furthermore, Swift is implementing a retail payments framework focusing on upfront fee transparency and consumer experience. The overall goal is to extend the trust and stability of established finance into digital money while upholding high standards of security, compliance, and risk management for future innovations like programmable money.
Full Take
The narrative positions blockchain technology, facilitated by Swift's ledger, as a mechanism to enhance the existing infrastructure of global finance rather than replace it. The core appeal lies in achieving "velocity and flexibility" for digital value transfer while simultaneously preserving established mandates of security, compliance, and control—a tension between disruptive innovation and regulatory inertia. The activation of tokenized deposits across major banks suggests a structural migration of settlement layers that could fundamentally redefine liquidity management by eliminating traditional friction points like weekend delays.
The implication is that the scaling of digital value relies not on creating entirely new financial systems, but on layering high-speed, trustless settlement protocols onto existing regulated banking structures. The emphasis on extending established trust into digital money suggests a pattern where institutional adoption follows infrastructure stability rather than pure technological novelty. The connection to programmable money and agentic commerce indicates an anticipation that this underlying velocity will enable complex transactional logic beyond simple payment execution.
The underlying assumption is that the perceived stability of legacy finance can be successfully translated across a distributed ledger, provided the necessary layers of compliance are explicitly built in from the outset. The missing element is how the practical achievement of meeting G20 targets and achieving retail transparency impacts the distribution of risk between the innovating institutions and the broader market participants who rely on this increased velocity. What metrics will determine if this layering truly scales benefits universally, or if it concentrates efficiency primarily among the participating large banks?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like standard business journalism, presenting verifiable facts and direct quotes regarding a financial technology initiative.