OCBC, Ant International Launch Tokenised Deposits for Cross-Border Treasury

New Cross-Border Liquidity Solution

OCBC and Ant International have introduced a new tokenised deposit solution aimed at enhancing cross-border liquidity management for corporate clients in Southeast Asia. The service facilitates the transfer of Singapore and US dollar funds between Singapore and Malaysia.

This allows businesses to move liquidity outside traditional banking hours, addressing a common constraint in international money movements and improving operational flexibility for corporate treasurers.

Blockchain for Efficiency

Tokenised deposits function as digital representations of commercial bank deposits, recorded on a distributed ledger. Utilising blockchain technology, these transfers generate an immutable audit trail, which significantly reduces the need for manual reconciliation. This process improves operational efficiency for corporate treasurers.

The solution runs on Ant International's WhaleRTP platform, designed to connect blockchain assets from various financial institutions. This setup allows companies to mobilise their intra-group liquidity continuously, bypassing limitations of batch processing and conventional settlement cut-off times.

Expanding Digital Asset Capabilities

This launch follows several other blockchain initiatives by OCBC in 2026. In September, the bank completed a cross-border tokenised deposit transaction in US dollars, leveraging Swift’s ledger alongside Citibank. During the same month, OCBC also executed domestic tokenised deposit transactions in Singapore dollars on Swift’s ledger, in collaboration with two other local banks.

Earlier, in April 2026, OCBC and its asset management division, Lion Global Investors, launched a tokenised physical gold fund on a public blockchain.

Faster Liquidity for Corporates

Carmen Chan, Deputy Head of Global Transaction Banking at OCBC, stated that the solution reveals tokenisation moving past experimental stages. She added that it provides tangible value for working capital management at scale.

Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech and Senior Vice President at Ant International, noted that the Whale platform facilitates more efficient cross-border treasury across their ecosystem. This enables near real-time liquidity, better supporting businesses and their customers.

For Asian corporates, this means faster, more transparent, and more flexible management of their international cash flows, reducing costs associated with delays and manual processes.