preferred on
Point of Focus
- Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays completed two live remortgages using tokenized deposits.
- A separate marketplace payment test locked a buyer’s money until goods were exchanged.
- The banks plan to test digital asset settlement next.
Three of the UK’s largest banks have completed two live remortgage transactions using tokenized deposits, allowing money to move between lenders and be released automatically when each transaction was completed.
Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Barclays carried out the remortgages through the Great British Tokenised Deposit project, according to UK Finance.
The industry group described them as part of the first live customer transactions using tokenized sterling deposits across UK banks.
The milestone gives the banks a practical test of whether a shared digital platform can handle payments that depend on an event, such as a property transaction reaching completion.
How the mortgage transactions worked
In each remortgage, deposit funds were locked and then released automatically once completion took place. That arrangement could reduce the manual checks and delays involved in moving funds between banks.
The project also explored whether a digital connection to HM Land Registry could make future property transactions more efficient.
🇬🇧UK banks just completed the world’s first interbank transactions using tokenised bank deposits on blockchain technology.
Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays and others are now testing how traditional bank money can move on blockchain rails.
This is exactly the kind of real-world…
— That Martini Guy ₿ (@MartiniGuyYT) September 24, 2026
Technology could let customers continue earning interest on money held in their accounts until completion.
The transactions used tokenized deposits: digital representations of money held at commercial banks. They are designed to retain the protections of conventional deposits while allowing a payment to follow programmed conditions.
The point of the mortgage test was to see whether those conditions could work when money had to move between separate institutions.
Banks test a marketplace payment
A separate transaction tested a payment between a buyer and a private seller. The buyer’s money was locked in their account and set to be released only after the goods were exchanged.
The payment tested a possible safeguard for online marketplaces, where a buyer may hesitate to pay before receiving an item and a seller may hesitate to send it before being paid.
Reuters reported that money moved between accounts, but no real goods changed hands in this test.
Seven institutions participate in the wider project: Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander. Quant developed the shared platform used for the transactions, while UK Finance convened the initiative.
Digital bonds are the next test
The banks now want to extend the platform beyond retail payments.
UK Finance said further pilots over the coming months will link tokenized customer money with digital assets, allowing the asset and its payment to be settled together.
Participating banks also plan to issue digital debt instruments whose trades can settle using tokenized deposits. They aim to issue three digital bonds in the first quarter of 2027.
UK BANKS COMPLETE FIRST TOKENIZED DEPOSIT TRANSFERS.
The financial plumbing of the United Kingdom has officially crossed the digital threshold. The UK's largest banks have successfully executed the world's first interbank transactions using tokenized deposits, moving blockchain… https://t.co/ltvcRvLW2w pic.twitter.com/P2KeyvrHu0
— TheVictorBuilds (@TheVictorBuilds) September 24, 2026
Before the project becomes a full service, its participants plan to establish a company and develop a governing framework.
The live mortgage transactions show that conditional payments can work across the participating banks; the next tests will show whether the same infrastructure can support a broader market for digital assets.
Share
Most read articles
