LONDON–UK Finance has launched an industry pilot aimed at delivering the first live U.K. 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, according to Yahoo Money.
Participating banks include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide, and Santander, supported by Quant, EY, and Linklaters.
Three Use Cases
The pilot builds on previous phases of the UK Regulated Liability Network project and will explore three use cases, Yahoo Money reported:
Person-to-person payments via online marketplaces, to reduce fraud and increase buyer and seller confidence
Remortgaging processes, to improve transparency, accelerate transactions,
Mitigate conveyancing fraud; and digital asset settlement, enabling seamless exchange between tokenized customer money and digital assets.
‘Fully Interoperable’
“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,” Yahoo Money stated. “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, the report added.
