Standard Chartered has completed first HKD-denominated blockchain test settlement with Ant International’s Whale platform

This is the first time Standard Chartered has conducted HKD blockchain transactions with Ant International

Hong Kong – Standard Chartered and Ant International today announced the successful completion of HKD-denominated intra-group transactions between Ant International entities. Ant International will apply the Treasury management principles to move funds between entities using its Whale platform, a next-generation treasury management solution that utilises blockchain technology, advanced encryption and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and transparency of fund movements.

This is part of the Bank’s active participation in a variety of Ant International’s innovative platforms and solutions including the Whale platform. Standard Chartered is committed to building a more transparent, efficient, and secure infrastructure for global payments by integrating innovation directly into the Bank’s payment systems.

Both Standard Chartered and Ant International are participants of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Ensemble Sandbox. Since May this year, Standard Chartered Hong Kong has been participating in Project Ensemble as a member of its Architecture Community, to jointly develop industry standards and assist in the design and implementation of the Ensemble Sandbox, which tests use cases for tokenisation. Ant International is also a participant in the Ensemble Sandbox, developing two use cases using its Whale platform.

Project Ensemble is a wholesale central bank digital currency (“wCBDC”) project that seeks to explore innovative financial market infrastructure for seamless interbank settlement of tokenised money through wCBDC.

As corporate treasurers and financial institutions demand the implementation of the latest technologies in their treasury operations to achieve optimal efficiencies in their Inter-group settlements, it is increasingly important for bank providers to embrace innovation and partnerships that can deliver value-added solutions to their corporate and financial institution clients. The intra-group transactions with Ant International represent a significant milestone for Standard Chartered with transaction workflows with the Bank’s core banking systems in a real-world commercial setting, while making the process transparent to customers’ business-as-usual workflow.

Anthony Lin, Head of Hong Kong and Greater China & North Asia, and Global Head of Market Management, Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered, said, “Inefficient working capital costs corporate clients significant revenue drag and we, at Standard Chartered, are committed to adopting the latest technology and collaborating with our regulatory stakeholders to enable the next phase of financial market infrastructure powered by blockchain and tokenisation. As a member in the Architecture Community of the HKMA’s Project Ensemble, Standard Chartered is excited to work closely with clients, including Ant International, to co-create solutions that will provide seamless, 24/7, real time treasury solutions.”

Commenting on the success of the client transactions, Mahesh Kini, Global Head of Cash Management at Standard Chartered, said: “With the financial landscape and corporate treasury function undergoing rapid transformation, corporate clients increasingly require their banking partners to support them in achieving better access, visibility, and control of their working capital, and provide ‘always-on’ availability, liquidity and speed of payment flows. This is the key driver behind our relentless focus on building core capabilities that allow us to enable and facilitate emerging payment rails. We understand the real transformation that blockchain-enabled solutions can deliver to the industry and broader ecosystem, and our collaboration with Ant International brings us closer to our goal of providing real time, 24/7 flows at scale for corporates and financial institutions, while meeting their treasury needs in a safe and efficient manner.”

“We are proud of the milestone we have achieved through this collaboration with Standard Chartered, and the impact it will have on how businesses manage their global liquidity in the future. Through combining Standard Chartered’s core banking capabilities with Ant International’s innovative technologies, such as the Whale platform, we are able to leverage tokenisation to facilitate cross-border transactions in a more efficient, secure and seamless manner,” said Kelvin Li, Head of Platform Tech at Ant International.

Standard Chartered is committed to shaping the future of finance by adopting innovation, investing in disruptive financial technology and exploring alternative business models. In addition to Project Ensemble, Standard Chartered Hong Kong also actively participates in a variety of pioneering projects, such as the HKMA Stable Coin Issuer Sandbox, the e-HKD Pilot Programme, Project mBridge, Project Dynamo and Project Genesis.

For further information please contact:

Standard Chartered
Lilian Goh
Corporate & Business Communications

Ant International
Kahmun Leong
Communications Manager

About Ant International

Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International powers the future of global commerce with digital innovation for everyone and every business to thrive. In close collaboration with partners, we support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realise their growth aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital payment and financial services solutions.