Swift, the messaging backbone that connects over 11,000 financial institutions worldwide, has activated its blockchain-based shared ledger that enables participating banks to move tokenized deposits across borders around the clock, improving payment speed and liquidity efficiency, according to a Thursday announcement.

“With our new ledger capability, we’re extending the trust and stability of established finance into the frontiers of digital money. It allows tokenized 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, stated.

The platform will be piloted by 17 banks, with participants including Citi, ANZ, Standard Chartered, FirstRand Bank, Itaú Unibanco, and BNP Paribas, among others.

Chilosi said strong support from participating banks could help scale regulated digital payments globally while laying the foundation for innovations such as programmable money and agentic commerce.

“The launch of Swift’s blockchain-based ledger represents an important step towards enabling always-on payments and liquidity,” Citi’s Head of Payments, Debopama Sen, commented on the move. “Leveraging Swift’s innovative blockchain-based messaging infrastructure allows us to create interoperable payment solutions, powered by Citi’s network, enhances our ability to serve our global clients with greater speed, resilience and security.”

The rollout marks Swift’s transition from concept to implementation in just nine months and represents a major milestone in bringing regulated digital assets into the mainstream financial infrastructure.

The ledger enables participating banks to transfer tokenized deposits around the clock, including outside traditional banking hours, before final settlement occurs through existing payment rails.

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

By combining blockchain technology with Swift’s established global network, the platform aims to improve payment speed, liquidity efficiency, and customer experience while preserving the security, compliance, and operational resilience required by regulated financial institutions.

Swift said the ledger builds on its existing payment network, where 75% of transactions already reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes.

The new infrastructure is designed to support future digital finance applications, including programmable money and agentic commerce, while helping the industry meet international goals for faster and more transparent cross-border payments.