Citi Expands Tokenized Deposit Services to Japan and UAE with 24/7 USD Payments

Key Points of This Article

• With the addition of two new markets, the service now operates in a total of seven markets, processing transactions worth billions of dollars.
• The UAE will support transactions in USD and EUR, targeting corporate clients and financial institutions.

Citi Expands Tokenized Deposits to Japan and UAE

On the 29th, American financial giant Citigroup announced the expansion of its tokenized deposit and blockchain-based fund transfer service, "Citi Token Service," to Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In Japan, the service will support transactions in USD, while in the UAE, it will support both USD and EUR transactions.

The service is already operational in five markets: the United States, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. With this expansion, the total number of markets served has increased to seven. The target clients are corporate entities and financial institutions, and the service is currently processing transactions worth billions of dollars.

Tokenized deposits are a form of bank deposits that can be transferred on a blockchain. Unlike stablecoins or cryptocurrencies, they are issued by banks and treated as deposits. Citi operates this service on a permissioned private blockchain that is not open to external parties.

Fund Transfers Unconstrained by Cut-off Times

Traditional interbank transfers are affected by the operating hours and cut-off times of payment systems in various countries, as well as holidays. With this service, funds can be moved almost instantly 24/7, without being subject to these constraints, as long as the accounts are within Citi's service locations, whether they are corporate or third-party accounts. This programmable fund transfer can be used for liquidity management, collateral management, and cross-border payments.

Steven Landler, the global head of liquidity management in the service division, described Japan and the UAE as "important financial centers with significant cross-border fund flows." Kanika Takur, head of the service division for Japan, North Asia, and Australia, stated that Japanese clients will be able to utilize "24/7 payment, collateral, and liquidity management solutions."

Rizwan Shaikh, head of the service division for the Middle East and Africa, explained that UAE clients will be able to manage liquidity across multiple currencies 24/7.

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