Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, has unveiled DBS Token Services, a suite of features powered by blockchain, tokenization and smart contracts. The new service is available to establishments. To enable expanded functionality, including 24/7 real-time payments, DBS has integrated its core banking system with its Ethereum-compatible permissioned blockchain.
DBS Token Services supports three feature sets, which were previously revealed separately as drivers. First, there are Treasury tokens, which are essentially token deposits. This enables 24/7 cross-border payments between DBS branches. As part of the pilot project, Ant International adopted the solution to support intra-group transfers. It has been integrated into Ant’s Whale platform for cash management.
“By leveraging tokenization and smart contract capabilities, DBS Token Services enables businesses and public sector entities to optimize liquidity management, streamline operational workflows, build business resilience, and unlock new opportunities for end-customer or end-user engagement,” said Lim Soon Chong. , Group Head of Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank.
“This marks a significant advancement in transaction banking and demonstrates how established financial institutions can leverage blockchain technology to deliver revolutionary new features and experiences.”
Smart contracts for conditional payments and rewards
The second set of features concerns the use of smart contracts for conditional payments. DBS piloted the feature with Enterprise Singapore, which provided government grants to 27 fintech companies. Provided beneficiaries met the conditions, the smart contract automatically triggered money transfers to them. Here, smart contracts were used for the workflow to trigger conventional payments without tokenization.
A third feature is corporate vouchers, using the Singaporean concept of purpose-linked money (PBM). DBS has already participated in PBM trials as part of Singapore’s Orchid Project.
Additionally, the bank is currently testing similar features in Hong Kong’s e-HKD+ trials, which now include tokenized deposits. Green activities can enable a company to provide ESG reward points to its customers. In turn, these rewards, which are essentially token deposits wrapped in a smart contract, can be redeemed at designated merchants provided the tokens are used to purchase green products. Hong Kong trials do not use real money.
Many of DBS’s innovations follow its involvement in several initiatives led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), including Project Ubin and Project Orchid for CBDC and Project Guardian for tokenization. Partior, the multi-bank cross-border payment network, comes from the Ubin project. DBS was a co-founder alongside JP Morgan, Temasek and Standard Chartered.
Other banks that have launched similar solutions include JPM Coin and JP Morgan’s Citi Token Services.
Ledger Insights Research has produced a report on tokenized deposits, banking stablecoins and DLT payments that highlights over 70 projects.
