HSBC and fintech giant Ant Group have successfully tested the use of tokenised deposits in intra-group payment transactions, in a first-of-its-kind initiative in Hong Kong.
The test, conducted under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Fintech Supervisory Sandbox arrangement, encompassed the issuance, transfer, and redemption of deposit tokens.
The use of tokenised deposits has the potential to enable always-on, real-time treasury fund movement between accounts held by a corporate within the HSBC network. This could lead to efficiencies and innovations in corporate treasury management.
During the test, HSBC was connected to the blockchain platform developed by Ant Group. The platform, supported by Ant Group’s banking partners, enhances treasury fund transfer with improved turnaround time, cost efficiency, and visibility.
HSBC has been providing support for Ant Group’s blockchain-based real-time treasury management solution since 2020. It facilitates treasury payments across global treasury centres, supporting major currencies including HKD, CNY, USD, GBP, and EUR.
HSBC has participated in successful pilots, including Project mBridge, which utilised CBDCs for cross-border wholesale transactions, as well as a cross-border CBDC payment orchestration pilot organised by Swift.
Additionally, HSBC took part in proof-of-concept projects that explored the feasibility of an interoperable digital money platform known as the regulated liability network in the US and UK.
HSBC will continue to expand its tokenisation capabilities and explore new use cases for tokenised deposits and to share best practices with other markets.
Vincent Lau, Global Head of Emerging Payments, Global Payments Solutions, HSBC said,
“We are excited to apply the concept of tokenised deposit to unlock next-generation treasury solutions together with Ant Group. The test exemplifies cutting-edge banking capabilities available in Hong Kong as a corporate treasury hub.
At HSBC, we will continue to leverage tokenised deposit and other financial innovations to streamline and optimise treasury management for our clients.”
Kelvin Li, Head of Global Fund Platform, International Business Group, Ant Group said,
“Blockchain and Web3 technologies are enabling digitalisaiton of industry collaboration and innovations on value movement, significantly improving the efficiency on liquidity and corporate treasury management.
We are excited to join hands with HSBC to build and test this tokenised deposit service, and will explore further opportunities together to accelerate the financial innovations in Hong Kong.”
