Singapore, 7 October 2026 – OCBC has become the first bank to collaborate with Ant International on a tokenised deposit solution that enables always-on treasury management and liquidity movement between Singapore and Malaysia.

The solution allows Ant International, an AI-native payment, account, FX, treasury and growth solutions provider, and its businesses to manage intra-group liquidity more efficiently across borders, improving working capital management between entities.

Tokenised deposits are digital representations of commercial bank deposits on a distributed ledger. By leveraging blockchain technology, tokenised deposit transfers create a transparent and immutable audit trail, reducing manual reconciliation and enhancing operational efficiency.

For a start, Ant International will be able to mobilise SGD- and USD-denominated tokenised deposits on a 24/7 basis, enabling near real-time settlements of treasury transactions between its entities. Powered by OCBC’s blockchain capabilities, the solution is delivered through Ant International’s WhaleRTP platform, a next-generation treasury management solution that optimises liquidity management while enabling seamless interoperability across blockchain assets from leading financial institutions.

The launch comes amid growing demand for real-time treasury and liquidity management. Conventional cross-border liquidity movements are often constrained by batch processing cycles, operating-hour limitations and currency and settlement cut-off times. Through tokenised deposits, corporates can move and deploy liquidity more efficiently beyond traditional banking windows.

The latest launch builds on the Bank’s track record of innovation in blockchain and digital assets.

In September 2026, OCBC completed Southeast Asia’s first cross-border tokenised deposit transaction in US dollars on Swift’s ledger with Citibank. In the same month, OCBC and two other local banks successfully completed domestic tokenised deposit transactions in Singapore dollars on Swift’s ledger, demonstrating how tokenised deposits can facilitate near real-time liquidity movement and settlement across banking networks.

Earlier in April 2026, OCBC and its asset management arm, Lion Global Investors, together with digital asset exchange DigiFT, launched the OCBC-LionGlobal Physical Gold Fund Token (“GOLDX token”), Southeast Asia’s first tokenised physical gold fund available on a public blockchain.

Carmen Chan, Deputy Head, Global Transaction Banking, OCBC, said: "OCBC has been a first mover in bringing innovative transaction banking solutions to market, and this latest milestone with Ant International demonstrates our commitment to helping corporates navigate an increasingly connected and fast-moving business environment. By combining OCBC's blockchain capabilities and transaction banking expertise with Ant International's Whale platform, we are enabling businesses to manage liquidity with greater speed, visibility and efficiency. More importantly, this illustrates how tokenisation is moving beyond experimentation to deliver tangible, real-world value for treasury and working capital management at scale."

Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech and Senior Vice President at Ant International, said: "We are glad to deepen our partnership with OCBC to bring real-world value to global businesses. Through the Whale platform, we are enabling more efficient cross-border treasury across our ecosystem to unlock near real-time liquidity that can better support our businesses and our customers. Together with forward-looking leading institutions, we hope to contribute to the scalable adoption of tokenisation and build a more connected and efficient financial ecosystem for the future."

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker