DBS Bank launches ‘treasury tokens’ pilot with Ant International

DBS Bank, Singapore’s largest bank by assets, has initiated a pilot program for “DBS Treasury Tokens” in partnership with Ant International, aiming to improve treasury and liquidity management through blockchain technology.

The pilot operates on DBS’s permissioned blockchain, facilitating multi-currency treasury and liquidity management for Ant International entities across various markets. This initiative seeks to reduce the settlement time of intra-group transactions from days to seconds, optimizing liquidity and working capital management.

EVM compatibility and the ‘permissioned chain’ concept

DBS’s permissioned blockchain is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and integrates with the bank’s core payments engine, enhancing extensibility and interoperability with various industry payment infrastructures. The blockchain has also been integrated with Ant International’s treasury management platform, Whale, allowing for seamless intragroup liquidity management.

Lim Soon Chong, group head of global transaction services at DBS Bank, emphasized the project’s relevance in addressing evolving treasury needs amid the rise of e-commerce and on-demand services.

“DBS Treasury Tokens and our partnership with Ant International demonstrates how corporates can seize such opportunities with full confidence that their liquidity management capabilities can scale in tandem,” Chong said.

The bank views its permissioned blockchain as a foundation for new efficiencies in traditional banking services, including programmable, fractionalized, and atomic value transfer.

This treasury tokens project stems from DBS Bank’s participation in Project Orchid and Project Guardian, initiatives led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to explore tokenization benefits. By leveraging blockchain technology alongside Ant International’s AI-powered Whale platform, DBS aims to enhance transparency and efficiency in fund transfers between bank accounts, positioning itself at the forefront of financial innovation in the region.