DBS Bank Partners with Ant International for Blockchain-Based Treasury Token Pilot

• DBS Bank has launched a pilot for “DBS Treasury Tokens” in partnership with Ant International, aiming to expedite intra-group transactions from days to seconds using a permissioned blockchain.
• This project enhances treasury and liquidity management, building on DBS’s previous involvement in tokenization projects led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

DBS Bank, Singapore’s largest bank by assets, has started a trial program for its “DBS Treasury Tokens” in collaboration with Ant International, the global arm of Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Group. This effort attempts to improve Treasury and Liquidity Management.

According to a statement released by The Block, the pilot will use DBS’s permissioned blockchain to improve Ant International’s multi-currency treasury and liquidity management across multiple markets. The goal is to greatly accelerate the settlement of intra-group transactions, lowering processing times from “potentially days to seconds.” This improvement is intended to increase intra-group liquidity and working capital, giving company treasurers greater visibility, predictability, and control over their overall financial situation.

Lim Soon Chong, DBS Bank’s group head of global transaction services, stated that this new pilot is opportune given the changing treasury needs caused by the expansion of e-commerce and on-demand businesses that operate around the clock. He added, “DBS’ permissioned blockchain also forms the building block for new efficiencies and capabilities in traditional banking services, such as programmable, fractionalized, and atomic value transfer.”

Kelvin Li, head of platform tech at Ant International, stated that their collaboration has already resulted in successful use cases such as fast tax refunds and cross-border payments for small and medium-sized businesses via the Whale platform.

The DBS Treasury Tokens pilot builds on the bank’s participation in Project Orchid and Project Guardian, which were both spearheaded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to investigate the potential benefits of tokenization.