First Live Interbank Transaction on Swift: HSBC and Standard Chartered Use Tokenized Deposits

HSBC and Standard Chartered executed Swift’s first live interbank transaction on its new blockchain ledger, issuing, transferring, and clearing tokenized deposit liabilities cross-border in real-time; after Swift matched and netted the liabilities, final settlement was completed through existing systems.

The transaction marks one of the first concrete steps in banks’ efforts to develop their own digital currency infrastructures as alternatives to stablecoins, which stand out for their speed and ease of use in international payments. Through deposit liabilities represented digitally, banks aim to reduce liquidity costs and delays in traditional payment chains.

Payment messages sent as part of the pilot were processed on Swift’s new blockchain ledger. The ledger matched and netted the liabilities created by the banks, and final payment was completed using existing banking systems. Thus, the transaction tested the cross-border issuance, transfer, and clearing of tokenized deposit liabilities in a real interbank payment flow.

Swift responds to stablecoin speed with tokenized deposits

The pilot, announced by Swift in July, covers 17 banks and 6 continents. The bank-owned messaging network currently serves 11,500 financial institutions and carries $7.5 trillion worth of transactions daily. Naveen Mallela, Standard Chartered’s head of digital assets, described the transition from a messaging-based system to a ledger-based one—which has remained largely unchanged for 30-40 years—as a natural evolution.

Lewis Sun of HSBC said the transaction demonstrates that banks’ digital currencies can interoperate across different institutions while maintaining the regulatory oversight of the existing financial system. Mallela noted that stablecoins and tokenized deposits are complementary. Debo Sen of Citi stated that Swift could create a powerful network effect thanks to its vast network, while OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos argued that if Swift does not transition to blockchain, it will not be able to overcome the problem of expensive and slow settlement.