Nearly 90% of large businesses are embracing tokenized cash to speed up payments: DBS

Large businesses are using or testing tokenized money to improve cash management and cross-border payments, with 88% of respondents to a DBS survey reporting live deployments or pilots, the Singapore bank said.

The report found 24% had deployed the technology at scale, while 43% had limited live use in selected markets. Another 21% were running pilots or proofs of concept, leaving 12% exploring the technology or not using it.

DBS commissioned EY to conduct the study, which polled 422 business and finance leaders across 11 markets, including the U.S., China, Germany and the U.K. All represented organizations with annual revenue above $500 million.

Stablecoins led the instruments respondents were using or planning to adopt, at 63%, followed by tokenized deposits at 53% and tokenized money market funds at 52% according to the study.

Faster payments were among the expected benefits. Some 71% of respondents said they already experienced improvements in real-time cross-border payments or expected them within two years, while 65% reported the same for treasury liquidity management.

Regulatory uncertainty, security risks and integration difficulties remained obstacles, with nearly two-thirds wanting banks to provide a single point of access to the tokenized money ecosystem, while 63% sought help with pilots and integration.

“For companies, fragmentation may add complexities and compliance obligations,” Lim Soon Chong, DBS’s group head of global transaction services, said. “The future will be defined by new forms of money and technology, and also shaped by trusted anchors who can orchestrate value movement across multiple networks.”

DBS itself offers the infrastructure the survey examines. It launched DBS Token Services in 2024, connecting its permissioned blockchain with its payment systems to support round-the-clock settlement and payments governed by preset conditions.

Other banks have reported live corporate use. Citi said at its May investor day that hundreds of clients were moving close to $1 billion daily through Citi Token Services, primarily to manage liquidity and working capital.

In September, DBS and Citi completed a weekend dollar payment between Singapore and New York using tokenized deposits through the Swift Digital Ledger. DBS said the transaction settled in minutes, allowing funds to move outside traditional banking hours.