The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a leading global provider of secure financial messaging services, has launched a pilot blockchain platform this November, collaborating with 12 major banks across Europe and beyond. Several institutions participating in the pilot, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, have existing ties to Ripple’s blockchain ecosystem, drawing attention from the XRP community.
Major banks connect tokenized services to SWIFT’s blockchain platform
HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, is among the first to integrate its Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS) with SWIFT’s blockchain ledger. The bank utilizes the Harmonize platform, developed by Metaco, to provide digital asset custody solutions for institutional clients. Since acquiring Metaco in 2023, Ripple has strengthened connections between its blockchain infrastructure and major financial institutions, including HSBC.
HSBC has previously referenced using XRP Ledger (XRPL) capabilities in its internal documentation and has conducted preliminary blockchain implementations. The bank continues to explore distributed ledger technology (DLT) to optimize settlement speeds and reduce operational costs. Leveraging DLT, especially platforms like the XRP Ledger, offers instant settlement and lower transaction fees compared to traditional systems.
Mini dictionary: Metaco – A Swiss-based digital asset infrastructure firm specializing in custody technology, acquired by Ripple in May 2023 to boost institutional adoption of blockchain solutions.
XRP Ledger integration for tokenized funds and custody services
Other banks in SWIFT’s pilot group, including Standard Chartered, have incorporated Ripple’s technology into their operations since as early as 2016. In October 2026, Standard Chartered announced its Dubai (DIFC) branch would provide institutional custody solutions for RLUSD, a Ripple-backed stablecoin, issued on the XRP Ledger.
BNY Mellon and DBS, two more participants in the SWIFT pilot, serve specialized roles related to Ripple’s tokenized offerings. BNY Mellon acts as the main reserve custodian for RLUSD, while Singapore-based DBS collaborates with Franklin Templeton to bring a tokenized money-market fund called sgBENJI to the XRP Ledger. This fund is tradable against RLUSD on DBS Digital Exchange, expanding options for digital asset investors and institutional clients.
While SWIFT’s new blockchain ledger is compatible with multiple distributed ledger networks, many financial institutions highlight the XRP Ledger’s strengths in regulatory compliance, interoperability and native financial messaging support. Alongside XRP, networks such as Stellar’s XLM and Hedera’s HBAR also offer native compatibility with the ISO 20022 standard, the key industry protocol for modern financial communications.
Mini dictionary: ISO 20022 – An international standard for electronic data interchange between financial institutions, streamlining payments and securities messaging for more efficient cross-border transactions.
| Bank | Ripple Integration | Role in Pilot |
|---|---|---|
| HSBC | Metaco platform, XRPL reference | Tokenised Deposit Service integration |
| Standard Chartered | XRP tech stack since 2016, RLUSD custody | Institutional custody for RLUSD |
| BNY Mellon | Reserve custodian for RLUSD | Custodian services |
| DBS | XRP Ledger partnership for sgBENJI | Tokenized fund listing, RLUSD trading |
Ripple targets cross-border payments market amid industry shift
The cross-border payments sector processes more than $155 trillion in annual transaction volume, playing a vital role in global commerce and remittance flows. Despite its scale, many merchants still experience challenges with processing speed and costs compared to blockchain-based solutions. Surveys show that 70% of merchants expect near-instant settlement for all transactions by 2027, reflecting SWIFT’s efforts to modernize international payment rails using distributed ledger technology.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse previously projected that XRP could eventually capture up to 14% of the global cross-border payments market. However, the actual uptake by financial institutions depends on numerous factors, including various adoption rates and integration with incumbent banking systems. For example, Ripple Prime, the company’s custody division, processed over $13 trillion in assets during 2025, but most of this volume did not involve direct cryptocurrency transactions.
Ripple’s latest blockchain initiatives target a share of the $155 trillion cross-border payments industry, but experts note that widespread institutional adoption remains uncertain due to slow integration of decentralized technologies within legacy financial systems.
