Uber tests tokenized cash management with HSBC and Franklin Templeton

Uber completed a pilot with HSBC, Franklin Templeton, Tradeweb and Fireblocks on the Canton Network to keep corporate cash earning yield around the clock while still available for payments. In the test, Uber used HSBC's tokenized bank deposits to purchase Franklin Templeton money market fund shares through Tradeweb, with Fireblocks providing wallet infrastructure — and redeemed part of its holdings, including over a weekend, with everything settling together via delivery-versus-payment.

• The pilot targets the idle-cash problem: cash in bank accounts earns less than money in short-term funds, but retrieving it is slow, so companies hold extra liquidity for night and weekend payments.
• Uber's corporate finance VP Odette Rodrigues said the approach reduces the need to maintain liquidity buffers and is "an important first step" toward a 24/7 working-capital model.
• The system remains a pilot, pairing Franklin Templeton's tokenized money market fund with HSBC deposits representing commercial bank money.