Ant International and HSBC have expanded their partnership to introduce real-time tokenised treasury management in the Middle East, enabling businesses to move liquidity around the clock using blockchain-based tokenised deposits.
The collaboration brings HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS) into Ant International’s regional treasury operations, following pilot transactions covering domestic UAE dirham transfers and cross-border US dollar payments from the UAE to markets including Hong Kong and Singapore.
Ant International becomes first Middle East client for HSBC service
Ant International said it has become the first client in the Middle East to use HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service.
The service is currently available in six markets, including the UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The pilot transactions were conducted through WhaleRTP, Ant International’s blockchain-based real-time treasury management platform. The system is designed to help businesses manage cross-border liquidity without being restricted by conventional banking hours and settlement cycles.
WhaleRTP is connected with more than 20 global banking partners and supports 17 currencies, including the UAE dirham, US dollar and Hong Kong dollar.
The latest integration enables Ant International to use HSBC’s tokenised deposit infrastructure to manage funds across different markets on a 24/7 basis.
UAE and cross-border transactions tested
The companies completed transactions across two payment corridors as part of the rollout.
One involved UAE dirham-denominated transfers within the UAE, while another tested cross-border US dollar payments originating in the UAE and settling in international markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore.
HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service supports several major currencies, including AED, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, HKD and offshore Chinese yuan, or CNH.
The companies also jointly developed the transaction workflow to improve interoperability between their respective tokenised deposit and treasury management infrastructure.
Supporting Ant International’s regional businesses
The new treasury infrastructure is expected to support Ant International’s expanding operations in the Middle East.
The company operates several international financial technology businesses, including Alipay+, its cross-border digital payment and marketing platform; Antom, its merchant payment and digitisation business; and WorldFirst, which provides international payment and financial services primarily for businesses involved in global trade.
By integrating real-time tokenised deposits into its treasury operations, Ant International can potentially move funds between markets more efficiently and maintain access to liquidity outside traditional banking hours.
The development also extends Ant International’s work with blockchain-based treasury technology. The company has been exploring tokenised deposits and related infrastructure across financial markets in Asia, Europe and the United States.
Tokenised deposits gain ground in corporate treasury
Tokenised deposits are digital representations of conventional bank deposits issued and managed within regulated banking systems using distributed ledger technology.
Unlike many cryptocurrencies, tokenised deposits remain linked to money held within the banking system. The technology is being explored as a way to combine the regulatory framework of commercial banking with faster settlement and programmable financial infrastructure.
For corporate treasury departments, one of the main potential benefits is the ability to transfer and manage liquidity continuously rather than waiting for conventional banking and settlement windows.
This can become particularly important for multinational companies operating across several time zones and currencies.
HSBC has been expanding its digital asset and tokenisation capabilities as financial institutions explore the use of blockchain technology for payments, deposits and other traditional financial instruments.
Middle East emerges as key market for tokenised finance
The expansion into the UAE reflects the Middle East’s growing role in the development and adoption of digital financial infrastructure.
For Ant International, the ability to connect its WhaleRTP platform with HSBC’s banking infrastructure provides another route for managing liquidity between the Middle East and major Asian and international financial centres.
The development also highlights a wider challenge facing tokenised finance: interoperability.
As banks and financial technology companies develop their own blockchain-based payment and deposit networks, ensuring those systems can communicate effectively will be important to avoiding fragmented pools of liquidity.
The Ant International and HSBC collaboration demonstrates how regulated bank deposits and blockchain-based treasury platforms can be connected to support real-world cross-border transactions.
As tokenised deposits move beyond pilot projects and into commercial treasury operations, the focus is increasingly shifting from proving the technology works to determining how effectively different networks, banks and currencies can operate together at scale.
