DBS on Tuesday (August 13) announced the pilot launch of blockchain-powered treasury tokens with Ant International for 24/7 treasury and liquidity management.

With the DBS Treasury Tokens, Ant International will be able to use the digital form factor to achieve instant, multi-currency treasury and liquidity management on DBS’ permissioned blockchain for its entities across multiple markets.

The permissioned blockchain is integrated with Ant International’s Whale platform, enabling Ant International to seamlessly manage its intragroup liquidity on a 24/7 basis, thereby optimizing workflow and visibility.

Ant International’s Whale platform is a next-generation treasury management solution that utilizes blockchain technology, advanced encryption and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and transparency of fund movements between bank accounts.

“This milestone with DBS is an important step forward in addressing challenges like reducing costs and transaction risks for cross-border payments,” says Kelvin Li, head of platform tech at Ant International. “We have already seen successful use cases on our Whale platform in areas such as instant tax refund services and SME cross-border payments, and we will continue working together with industry partners and leveraging blockchain technology to enable more open and inclusive cross-border payments.”

Large corporates like Ant International which operate several entities across multiple markets need to manage payments, collections, funding needs and cash positions across time zones and currencies. DBS Treasury Tokens enables Ant International to reduce the settlement of intra-group transactions potentially from days to seconds. This optimizes intra-group liquidity and working capital, providing corporate treasurers with greater visibility, predictability and control over the entire group’s cash position.

“This new capability comes at a time when the treasury needs of businesses are evolving to meet the rise of e-commerce and on-demand services on a 24/7 basis,” says Lim Soon Chong, group head of global transaction services at DBS Bank. “DBS Treasury Tokens and our partnership with Ant International demonstrate how corporates can seize such opportunities with full confidence that their liquidity management capabilities can scale in tandem. DBS’ permissioned blockchain also forms the building block for new efficiencies and capabilities in traditional banking services, such as programmable, fractionalized and atomic value transfer.”

The product demonstrates how established commercial banks and financial institutions can harness blockchain technology and smart contracts to deliver the next generation of banking services on a 24/7, atomic, and programmable basis, DBS says.