FAB completes live tokenized deposit milestone with Citi through Swift Ledger

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has successfully executed live USD transactions using tokenized deposits in collaboration with Citi via the Swift Ledger Minimum Viable Product. This milestone marks the first time a bank in the Middle East and Africa has utilized Swift's smart contract settlement infrastructure to facilitate 24/7 cross-border payments. The initiative aims to reduce fragmentation across emerging tokenized money networks by providing a unified orchestration and interoperability layer. By integrating tokenized deposits with existing Swift messaging, the transaction demonstrated that regulated commercial bank money can support programmable payments while maintaining traditional liquidity and risk management frameworks. Crucially, the tokenized deposits remained on the participating banks' balance sheets, ensuring that interbank settlement continued through established correspondent banking channels. This development is significant for the RWA market as it validates the integration of distributed ledger technology with legacy financial systems to enhance global payment efficiency. FAB plans to continue collaborating with Swift to expand these capabilities into programmable treasury solutions for institutional clients.