Banks Join Forces on Tokenized Deposits with IBM and Swift Integration

The development of tokenized bank deposits is gaining momentum in the financial sector. This week, IBM connected its Digital Asset Haven platform to Swift's blockchain-based shared ledger, allowing banks to instruct tokenized deposit transfers using ISO 20022, a message standard for cross-border payments.

This move follows a UK pilot where seven major banks successfully completed live customer payments using tokenized sterling. The integration of blockchain capabilities with existing infrastructure is seen as a significant step towards wider adoption.

The bank-led approach aims to build on what banks already control, keeping deposits as regulated bank liabilities and using existing supervision. This approach attempts to make blockchain another payment rail connected to existing infrastructure, rather than building entirely separate blockchain workflows.