Major UK banks have completed the first live customer transactions using tokenised sterling deposits across shared multibank infrastructure, moving programmable commercial bank money from testing into real retail payments.
The transactions ran through the Great British Tokenised Deposit initiative convened by UK Finance. Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds Banking Group, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander are participating in the project, with Quant providing the underlying infrastructure.
Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays participated in two remortgage transactions, while a separate three-bank group including HSBC carried out a marketplace payment. The tests demonstrated how sterling already held as regulated commercial bank deposits can gain programmable settlement functions across different institutions.
Remortgage Funds Released Automatically at Completion
The two remortgage transactions locked deposit funds until the conditions for completion were satisfied, then released the money automatically.
That structure reduces the manual checks and settlement delays involved in moving funds between parties during a property transaction. It can also allow customers to continue earning interest while money remains in their account awaiting completion rather than transferring it earlier in the process.
The project explored connecting the process digitally with HM Land Registry to automate more of the transaction lifecycle.
Tokenised deposits remain claims on commercial banks rather than becoming separately issued stablecoins. UK Finance said the digital deposits retain the regulatory protections attached to conventional bank money while adding programmability, conditional settlement and faster transaction processing.
Lloyds had already demonstrated another model in January when it used tokenised deposits on the Canton Network to purchase a tokenised UK government gilt.
Marketplace Payment Links Release to Exchange of Goods
The marketplace transaction used programmable sterling to keep money locked in the buyer’s account until the agreed conditions were met.
Payment was released only when the goods were successfully exchanged, giving the seller confirmation that funds were available without requiring the buyer to surrender control before completion. UK Finance identified reduced fraud risk and greater confidence between buyers and sellers as two potential uses of the structure.
Quant built the shared GBTD infrastructure to connect participating banks rather than requiring every institution to operate inside a single proprietary deposit system. Its technology provides programmability and interoperability with existing bank ledgers, Faster Payments, Open Banking and other payment infrastructure.
The UK project follows other attempts to move regulated bank money onto programmable rails. Swift has been testing 24/7 payments with 17 global banks using tokenised deposits, while the Bank of England is extending settlement availability as tokenised markets develop.
Digital Asset Settlement Comes Next
UK Finance plans further GBTD pilots involving digital asset settlement. Participating banks will issue digital debt instruments that can be traded and settled against tokenised deposits, with coupon payments also made using tokenised commercial bank money.
The work coincides with the UK’s wider push toward near-24/7 settlement across traditional and tokenised financial markets.
Quant is also supplying technology for The Clearing House’s new On-Chain Money Initiative in the United States. The network will connect tokenised deposits with existing RTP and CHIPS payment rails and is expected to become available to participating financial institutions in the first half of 2027.
The GBTD platform will continue with digital-asset settlement trials after completing its first live retail remortgage and marketplace transactions.
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