By Our Reporter

No Nigerian bank features among the 17 global financial institutions selected to pioneer a new blockchain-based shared ledger unveiled by Swift, the international financial messaging network.

This is happening just as the banking industry moves to counter the growing dominance of stablecoins in cross-border finance.

Swift said the platform, launched on Thursday, would initially be used by a group of 17 global banks, including: Citi, HSBC, UBS, BNP Paribas, BNY, Standard Chartered, MUFG, ANZ, DBS, Lloyds and Wells Fargo. The line-up is drawn largely from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with no African lender listed among the pioneering group.

The emergence of the shared ledger comes amid intensifying competition between traditional financial institutions and the rapidly expanding $315 billion stablecoin industry, dominated by issuers Tether and Circle.

The new platform is designed to enable banks to process tokenised cross-border payments around the clock, positioning mainstream finance to compete more effectively with stablecoins, which allow users to transfer funds directly without intermediaries.

The Belgium-based financial messaging network said the system would allow tokenised funds to move 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including weekends. The technology also enables payments to be programmed for specific purposes, opening the door to new digital financial services.

The initiative marks one of the banking industry’s most significant efforts to harness blockchain technology while maintaining the compliance standards, security and operational controls required by regulators across global financial markets.

Swift said participation by the international banking group reflects strong global demand for a platform capable of allowing banks’ individual tokenised payment systems to interoperate seamlessly with one another.

The launch represents the first practical implementation of the blockchain ledger unveiled by Swift last year and is expected to support future innovations such as programmable money and agentic commerce, where automated digital systems can initiate and execute payments on behalf of users.

Swift facilitates cross-border payments for more than 11,500 banks and financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories. The organisation estimates that transactions moving through its network are equivalent in value to the world’s gross domestic product every two to three days.

The latest development underscores growing efforts by global banks to prepare for a future in which deposits, financial assets and payments are increasingly tokenised and conducted on digital ledgers while remaining within the regulated financial system.

Whether and when Nigerian banks — or other African lenders, will be brought into subsequent phases of the rollout remains unclear, as Swift has not indicated a timeline for expanding the pilot beyond its initial 17 participants.