UBS, the investment bank, has formed a strategic partnership with Ant International, a financial technology company, to explore tokenized deposits for real-time cross-border payments and global liquidity management. This partnership marks a significant expansion of UBS’s blockchain-based digital cash platform.
In Singapore, the two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding, positioning tokenized bank money as a potential replacement for traditional treasury settlement rails. These rails are currently defined by cut-offs, fragmentation, and multicurrency delays.
Ant International, part of the Alipay+ ecosystem, will leverage UBS Digital Cash to streamline internal treasury transfers across jurisdictions.
“We believe in the potential of these technologies to transform cross-border payments and are excited to collaborate with UBS to drive greater impact,” said Kelvin Li, global manager of platform tech at Ant International.
Addressing a bottleneck in corporate treasury operations
The collaboration between UBS and Ant International tackles one of the major bottlenecks in corporate treasury operations — intra-group transfers reliant on legacy banking rails with limited operating hours and inconsistent settlement speed.
Tokenizing deposit liabilities on permissioned digital ledgers will allow institutions to synchronize liquidity across subsidiaries in minutes rather than days, revolutionizing global payment providers’ struggles.
UBS Digital Cash, initially piloted with selected institutions in 2024, serves as bank-issued digital money for wholesale use cases.
“Combining our digital assets expertise with Ant’s blockchain technology, we aim to deliver a real-time, multicurrency payment solution that sets new standards for transparency and efficiency,” said Young Jin Yee, the country head for UBS Singapore.
This partnership exemplifies a major payments infrastructure operation embracing tokenized deposits.
For Ant International, the integration offers a programmable settlement layer supporting treasury operations across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Related: Franklin Templeton brings tokenized USD money market fund to Hong Kong
Singapore’s growing role in institutional tokenization
The partnership underscores Singapore’s increasing involvement in institutional blockchain initiatives. In 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) advanced asset tokenization through new frameworks, including projects like Project Guardian and Project Orchid.
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