UBS and Ant Collaborate on Blockchain to Enhance Global Treasury Flows

UBS and Ant bet on blockchain to break bottleneck in global treasury flows

Investment bank UBS has partnered with Ant International, a financial technology leader, to explore the use of tokenized deposits. This collaboration aims to enable real-time cross-border payments and improve global liquidity management, significantly enhancing UBS's blockchain-powered digital cash platform.

Key Takeaways

UBS and Ant International are collaborating to implement blockchain technology in treasury operations.
The partnership focuses on using tokenized deposits for faster and more efficient cross-border payment solutions.
By tokenizing bank deposits, the collaboration aims to address delays and inefficiencies in traditional treasury settlements.
This initiative aligns with Singapore’s reputation as a hub for blockchain advancements in finance.

Collaboration to Revolutionize Treasury Operations

In a strategic move, UBS has teamed up with financial technology firm Ant International to investigate the potential of tokenized deposits for improving real-time cross-border payment processes and managing global liquidity. This marks a significant enhancement of UBS's digital cash platform that utilizes blockchain technology.

The partnership was solidified through a Memorandum of Understanding in Singapore, a thriving center for institutional blockchain trials. This collaboration aims to replace conventional treasury settlement processes, which are characterized by cut-off times, fragmentation, and delays due to multiple currencies, with more efficient tokenized bank money.

Ant International, which manages operations within the expansive Alipay+ ecosystem, announced plans to leverage UBS Digital Cash to optimize internal treasury transfers across various jurisdictions. Kelvin Li, Ant International’s global manager of platform technology, stated, “We share a common belief in the potential of these technologies to transform cross-border payments and look forward to driving greater impact together through UBS’s global expertise and support.”

Addressing Challenges in Corporate Treasury Operations

This partnership tackles one of the primary challenges in corporate treasury operations – inter-group transfers that rely on outdated banking processes. Such processes suffer from limited working hours and inconsistent settlement times.

By using permissioned digital ledgers to tokenize deposit liabilities, organizations can synchronize liquidity among different subsidiaries within minutes, rather than days. This is a crucial development that many global payment providers have been working to overcome.

UBS Digital Cash, which was piloted with select institutions in 2024, is designed as bank-issued digital currency aimed at wholesale applications. Young Jin Yee, head of UBS Singapore, remarked, “By combining our expertise in digital assets with Ant’s advanced blockchain technology, we are working together to deliver a real-time, multicurrency payment solution that sets standards for transparency and efficiency.”

This collaboration represents one of the most practical instances of traditional payment infrastructure adopting tokenized deposits.

For Ant International, integrating this new technology will create a programmable settlement layer that can enhance treasury operations across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Singapore's Growing Influence in Institutional Tokenization

The partnership emphasizes Singapore's expanding influence in institutional blockchain initiatives. In 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) advanced asset tokenization by establishing new frameworks and launching various projects. Notable examples include Project Guardian, which concentrates on fund tokenization, and Project Orchid, which aims to develop use cases for a retail-central bank digital currency.