First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has completed a live USD transaction with Citi using tokenised deposits on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger.

The bilateral transaction tested how existing Swift payment messaging can work with tokenised deposits to support 24/7 cross-border payments.

According to FAB, it is the first bank in the Middle East and Africa to reach this milestone.

The transaction forms part of Swift’s Ledger minimum viable product (MVP), a shared platform designed to reduce fragmentation across the tokenised money networks.

Tokenised deposits, digital representations of money that stay on a bank’s own balance sheet, remained with each participating bank throughout the transaction.

Swift’s ledger coordinated the payment commitments between FAB and Citi and recorded the resulting interbank liabilities, without taking custody of the funds itself.

Final interbank settlement ran separately, through established correspondent banking channels, preserving the liquidity, risk and control frameworks banks already use.

Swift positions the ledger as an orchestration layer that sits on top of current payment rails rather than replacing them.

FAB will continue collaborating with Swift and other participating institutions on later phases, including expanded interoperability, wider 24/7 settlement capability and programmable treasury tools for institutional and corporate clients.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News UAE, based on image by First Abu Dhabi Bank via its Press Release.