FAB and Citi Complete Swift Ledger Tokenised Deposit Transfer

First Abu Dhabi Bank has completed a live US dollar transaction with Citi using tokenised deposits on Swift's blockchain-based ledger. The deal was bilateral, and FAB says it is the first bank in the Middle East and Africa to finish such a transfer. It ran as part of Swift's Ledger minimum viable product, a shared platform created to reduce fragmentation across tokenised money networks.

Tokenised deposits are digital representations of money that stay on a bank's own balance sheet. In this transaction, those deposits remained with each bank. Swift's ledger did not move them. What the ledger did was coordinate the payment commitments between FAB and Citi and record the interbank liabilities that resulted. Swift took no custody of the funds.

Final interbank settlement was handled separately through established correspondent banking channels. That separation is deliberate. It keeps the banks' existing liquidity, risk, and control frameworks in place, even as a new settlement layer supports faster payments.

The test shows something specific: existing Swift payment messaging can be paired with tokenised deposits for cross-border activity that runs around the clock. The ledger acts as an orchestration layer above current payment rails, not as a replacement for them. Banks can take part without uprooting core operating arrangements.

Interoperability matters

Tokenisation pilots tend to multiply quickly, and each can become its own island. Swift's position is that a shared ledger can reduce that fragmentation by giving institutions a common place to commit, coordinate, and record. The FAB-Citi transaction puts that idea to a practical test. It also shows that the hard part of final settlement can be deliberately ring-fenced from the orchestration layer. For banks assessing tokenised deposits, that could make adoption easier.

FAB intends to continue working with Swift and other institutions in later phases of the programme. Those phases are expected to broaden interoperability, extend 24/7 settlement capability, and add programmable treasury tools for institutional and corporate clients.

The result is a working example of tokenised deposits moving between two banks without Swift taking custody. Final settlement went through the same correspondent banking paths banks already use. If later phases deliver on their stated goals, a bank could use tokenised deposits for treasury automation while keeping settlement where its risk teams expect it to be.