DBS and Ant Group launch Treasury Tokens pilot to enhance cross-border corporate finance and liquidity management

DBS Bank, a financial services group headquartered in Singapore, has initiated a collaboration with Ant Group's international arm, Ant International, to pilot the "DBS Treasury Tokens," aimed at enhancing the financial and liquidity management of multinational corporations.

DBS Launches Project for Ant Group's Cross-Border Financial Management

According to The Block, the DBS Treasury Tokens project operates on its licensed blockchain to facilitate Ant Group's international entities in managing multi-currency finances and liquidity across various markets. This allows settlement times for intra-group transactions to be reduced "from potentially days to seconds." The optimization of intra-group liquidity and working capital provides greater visibility, predictability, and control over the group's cash position for corporate finance executives, meeting the rise of e-commerce and 24/7 services.

Kelvin Li, Technical Lead of Ant Group International Platform, mentioned that they have seen good use cases in areas such as instant tax refund services and cross-border payments for SMEs on their Whale platform.

DBS's Deep Dive into Blockchain

As Singapore's largest bank by assets, DBS Bank has been deeply involved in the blockchain space, collaborating on various fintech projects with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Projects such as Project Orchid, under the "Lan Hua" initiative, enable purpose-bound money (PBM) to be built on the concept and functionality of programmable payments and programmable currency. This allows retail stores to make instant settlements, payments, and receipts through customers using vouchers issued based on digital tokens, enhancing cash flow and saving backend management time.

DBS partners with the government on the "Lan Hua" initiative to trial digital currency payments using vouchers

Lim Soon Chong, Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS Bank, mentioned that DBS's licensed blockchain sets the foundation for new efficiencies and functionalities in traditional banking services, such as programmability, fractionalization, and atomic value transfer.

Regarding the innovative integration of blockchain in fintech, Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), provided detailed explanations at the 2022 Singapore Fintech Festival. For more on this, please refer to: Singapore Aims to Become the Hub for Cryptocurrency Assets through Innovation in Fintech