UK's biggest banks complete world's first interbank tokenized deposit transfers

Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Barclays completed two remortgage transactions using tokenized deposits, while a separate group including HSBC tested a person-to-person payment tied to a simulated online marketplace purchase. UK Finance called it the world's first interbank transactions using tokenized deposits, part of its Great British Tokenised Deposit initiative testing blockchain-based commercial bank money across institutions.

• The pilot spans Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander, supported by Quant, EY and Linklaters.
• Programmable deposits kept funds locked until transaction conditions were met, designed to cut fraud risk in payments.
• UK Finance plans to set up a company and rulebook, with three digital bonds to be issued and settled using tokenized deposits in Q1 2027.