Britain’s largest banks have completed interbank transfers of tokenised deposits, taking a blockchain-based form of commercial bank money beyond earlier internal experiments.
According to a Reuters report dated 23 September 2026 and datelined 24 September, UK Finance said Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays completed two mortgage-related transactions using tokenized deposits, while a group of three banks including HSBC carried out a simulated person-to-person payment linked to an online marketplace purchase.
The transactions were conducted under the Great British Tokenised Deposit (GBTD) project, led by UK Finance after participating banks committed to the initiative through a pilot launched last year.
Banks have tested blockchain systems for more than a decade. Financial institutions have developed digital systems for assets such as deposits, bonds, stocks and currencies, but separate systems have made it difficult for banks to transact directly with one another.
The GBTD project is designed to address that interoperability issue by testing a common approach for tokenized sterling deposits.
Programmable Payments
The trials focused on transactions that already form part of everyday banking.
In the two remortgage tests, funds held as tokenized deposits were locked and then released automatically once the property transaction was completed. This allowed the payment to be linked directly to the completion of the transaction.
The other test simulated an online marketplace purchase. Funds were set aside in the buyer’s account and released to the seller only after the goods had been received. No actual goods were exchanged during the test, but the trial demonstrated how programmable deposits could link payments to specific conditions. Money moved between accounts in the tests, but no real goods changed hands.
Jana Mackintosh, UK Finance’s managing director for Payments and Innovation, said the test highlighted the potential for the technology to reduce fraud risks.
UK Finance has been examining several applications for tokenized deposits, including marketplace payments, remortgaging and digital asset settlement.
Tokenized deposits vs Stablecoins
Tokenized deposits are designed to bring traditional commercial bank money onto blockchain infrastructure without turning it into a separate privately issued cryptocurrency.
A tokenized deposit represents money held in a bank account and has the same legal status as a conventional bank deposit. Stablecoins, on the other hand, are generally issued by private companies and are designed to maintain a stable value against a currency or another reference asset.
This difference means tokenized deposits keep the underlying money within the existing banking system while adding features such as programmability and automated settlement.
According to Reuters, the Bank of England has indicated a preference for banks to develop tokenized deposits rather than relying on privately issued stablecoins. The Bank of England has said it would rather banks innovate with tokenised deposits than with privately issued stablecoins.
Banks are also examining whether blockchain-based transactions can make some financial processes faster and more efficient by reducing manual steps.
UK Finance plans next phase
The GBTD project is now preparing to move beyond its pilot stage.
UK Finance plans to establish a company and develop a rulebook and governance framework to support the transition toward full production.
The project is also expected to expand into capital markets. Participating banks plan to issue three digital bonds in the first quarter of 2027, with tokenized deposits intended to be used for their trading and settlement.
This would allow banks to test tokenized money alongside tokenized financial assets rather than limiting the technology to payments.
Mackintosh said the UK project has also attracted interest from other markets. “In the last 12 months, other jurisdictions have been speaking to us in earnest about what we’ve done, trying to understand how they can now catch up,” she said, referring to discussions with European counterparts.
Broader push for tokenized banking
The UK is not the only market exploring blockchain-based commercial bank money.
In the United States, The Clearing House, a banking association and payments company, announced an interbank tokenized deposit project in June 2026.
Recently, Canada’s six major banks are also working on a system for tokenized Canadian-dollar deposits as financial institutions explore blockchain-based banking.
The UK project has previously involved banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander, along with technology and professional-services firms. Participating firms have also included Monzo, with support from Quant, EY and Linklaters.
The wider goal is to see how blockchain-based money can work alongside the existing banking system.
For UK banks, the latest trials show that tokenized deposits can be used between different institutions in practical transactions. The next challenge is building the rules and infrastructure needed to support wider adoption.
The planned governance framework and the three digital bond transactions in 2027 will provide the next major tests for the project.
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