UK Finance Launches Industry-wide Pilot for Tokenized Sterling Deposits
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and Santander are among the banks in the pilot
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- Written by Banking Exchange staff
UK Finance has launched a collaborative industry pilot to deliver the first live UK transactions of tokenized sterling deposits (GBTD) to advance payments innovation across the sector.
The project is a joint effort by major banks, technology providers, and advisory firms, aiming to show how digital versions of traditional sterling commercial bank money can improve speed, security, and transparency while retaining regulatory protections.
Participating banks include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide, and Santander, supported by Quant, EY, and Linklaters.
The pilot builds on previous phases of the UK Regulated Liability Network project and will explore three use cases: person-to-person payments via online marketplaces, to reduce fraud and increase buyer and seller confidence; remortgaging processes, to improve transparency, accelerate transactions, and mitigate conveyancing fraud; and digital asset settlement, enabling seamless exchange between tokenized customer money and digital assets.
Running until mid-2026, the pilot aims to deliver clear benefits for customers, businesses, and the wider economy, including more efficient settlement, stronger fraud prevention, and greater control over payments.
The platform will be fully interoperable with other digital money formats, payment systems, and institutions, and offers tokenization-as-a-service to allow organizations without their own capabilities to participate.
The initiative also aligns with broader UK ambitions, including the planned digital gilt (DIGIT) and the National Payments Vision, which aim to position the country as a leader in next-generation money and programmable payments.
Jana Mackintosh, managing director of UK Finance, said: “This project is a powerful example of industry collaboration to deliver next generation payments for the benefit of customers and businesses - and an opportunity for the UK to lead globally in setting standards for tokenised money. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, recently called for innovation in how digital technology is applied to the money we use today. That’s exactly what tokenised deposits represent: a secure, regulated evolution of the payments landscape.”