Swift Tests a Blockchain Ledger for 24/7 Payments With 17 Major Banks

Swift is preparing a pilot launch of live transactions on a new blockchain ledger for payments. 17 major banks are joining the testing, including HSBC, UBS, Wells Fargo, Citi, BNP Paribas, and BNY. The goal of the project is to create banking infrastructure that will allow operations with tokenized digital assets around the clock, including at night and on weekends. This is not about replacing existing payment systems, but about a new technological layer that should work alongside them. Swift said the ledger is already ready for initial use by banks on six continents. In practical terms, this means an attempt to give banks the ability to move clients’ funds before final settlement through existing payment systems.

Time for Action examined why Swift’s new ledger could become an important step for traditional banking in competition with stablecoins and fast blockchain payments. Swift is a global banking messaging network used by more than 11,500 financial institutions. That is why its move into blockchain ledgers carries weight not only for individual banks, but also for the entire infrastructure of international payments. The platform, whose development Swift announced in October, should allow banks to settle transactions with stablecoins and tokenized assets across several blockchains. At the same time, the key detail is that the new system is not supposed to replace existing payment infrastructure. It should work together with it. Swift said the system gives banks a shared layer for tokenized deposits issued on their own ledgers. Tokenized deposits are digital versions of commercial bank money. For banks, this is important because such a format allows them to use the advantages of digital assets without leaving the regulated financial system.

“With our new ledger capability, we are extending the trust and stability of traditional finance into the areas of digital money,” said Thierry Chilosi, Chief Operating Officer of Swift.

This statement explains Swift’s logic well. The company is not trying to turn into a crypto project and is not abandoning the role of traditional banking infrastructure. On the contrary, it wants to transfer the strengths of classical finance trust, stability, regulatory compatibility, and risk control into the field of digital money. The emergence of such a ledger is connected with a broader shift in the financial market. Banks, payment companies, and cryptocurrency companies are looking for faster ways to transfer funds across borders. Stablecoins already offer transfers that can take place outside banking hours. For traditional banks, this is a challenge: if clients receive speed and accessibility in crypto infrastructure, classical payment networks have to respond.

But banks cannot simply copy the stablecoin model. For them, regulatory requirements, compliance, customer verification, risk management, and finality of settlement are important. That is why tokenized deposits on infrastructure led by banks look like a more acceptable solution for them. Swift’s new ledger should close one of the main weaknesses of traditional banking the limitation of operations by banking hours. If the system allows the movement of funds at night and on weekends, this could bring bank payments closer to the speed of digital assets, but without a full transition into an unregulated environment. At the same time, Swift already emphasizes that its current network remains fast: 75% of payments in the network now reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes, and often within seconds. The new ledger is needed not only for speed as such, but for the 24/7 availability of regulated digital money. It is this round-the-clock availability that is key. The traditional financial system has historically worked within operating schedules, clearing cycles, and banking procedures. Blockchain infrastructure, by contrast, works without weekends. Swift is trying to combine these two approaches: to preserve banking reliability and at the same time give clients the accessibility that digital assets already offer.

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For the participants of the pilot, this is also a way to test a new model of international payments without a sharp break with the existing system. Banks will be able to work with tokenized deposits on a shared layer, but final settlement will remain tied to existing payment systems. Such a structure reduces risks and makes the transition to digital money gradual. The main meaning of the Swift project is that traditional banks do not want to give the future of payments to stablecoins and third-party blockchain platforms. They recognize the advantages of the new technology, but want to preserve control over rules, risks, and client trust.

If the pilot launch of live transactions is successful, Swift could gain an important role in the new stage of financial infrastructure. This would not be a revolutionary replacement of the banking system, but its technological upgrade: faster cross-border payments, accessibility outside the banking schedule, and the use of tokenized deposits within a regulated environment. In the end, Swift is betting on a model in which blockchain does not destroy traditional banking, but becomes its instrument. For banks, this is a chance to preserve a central role in international payments. For clients, it is an opportunity to receive faster and more accessible transfers. For the financial system, it is an attempt to find a balance between innovation, control, and trust.

Tags: banks, blockchain ledger, Citi, digital assets, HSBC, stablecoins, SWIFT, UBS

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