TD, one of the largest bank in the U.S., successfully tests tokenised payments through Project Agorá
Project Agorá’s real-value testing showed how tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits can make wholesale cross-border payments faster and more transparent while preserving safety and trust.
TD has successfully moved real USD funds between two domestic U.S. entities for the first time using the Project Agorá platform. “The test case involved executing a tokenized payment between TD New York Branch (TD Securities LLC) and TD Bank, N.A., in partnership with Bank of New York (BNY). The transaction was done as part of Project Agorá’s real-value testing with participating central banks and financial institutions testing payments across selected currencies and scenarios.” – according to the press release.
Project Agorá, a public-private initiative convened by the Bank for International Settlements and the Institute of International Finance, is designed to explore how digital forms of existing money and new payment technology could help improve wholesale cross-border payments.
“The successful test demonstrated the ability to issue tokenized money on the Agorá platform and facilitate the instant movement of money, with atomic settlement, between the two TD entities with BNY as the clearing bank/intermediary. This is an important milestone highlighting the benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)-based money movement and the feasibility of conducting real-money transactions between entities using the Agorá platform.” – the bank said.
Advancing Cross-Border Payment Innovation Through Collaboration
Project Agorá brings together central banks and private-sector financial institutions to explore whether digital forms of existing money can reduce common challenges in wholesale cross-border payments. Today, these payments can involve multiple steps, limited visibility, and delays for financial institutions and their clients.
Project Agorá is exploring whether a shared digital payment platform could help institutions settle payments in multiple currencies, build key payment steps and compliance checks into the process, and give participants better visibility from start to finish.
Successful Real-Value Testing
Project Agorá conducted real-value testing to determine whether participating institutions could move funds under realistic operating conditions while addressing operational, technical, governance and legal considerations.
The testing involved 28 central banks and financial institutions, including TD, across Asia, Europe and North America completing transactions in selected currencies totaling approximately CHF 800,000 (Swiss francs). The program covered 17 transaction scenarios, with individual transactions ranging from CHF 9,000 to CHF 125,000, or local currency equivalents.
“Project Agorá reflects the kind of responsible innovation that has the potential to meaningfully improve how money moves across borders,” said Jo Jagadish, Head of Digital & Payments and Consumer Deposits, TD Bank U.S. “We were pleased to join with peer banks, central banks and the BIS Innovation Hub during Real Value Testing on the Project Agorá platform. This was a great example of what’s possible when the public and private sectors come together with a shared ambition to make global money movement faster, safer and more efficient.”
“Project Agorá highlights the potential of tokenized deposits making cross-border payments more efficient, transparent and resilient,” said Carolyn Weinberg, Chief Product & Innovation Officer, BNY. “As a trusted provider of financial infrastructure, BNY is pleased to collaborate with industry and public sector partners to explore the next generation of modern market capabilities.”
How Project Agorá Works
Project Agorá is a public-private collaboration that aims to test the desirability, feasibility and viability of a multi-currency shared programmable platform for wholesale cross-border payments. It is based on a concept initially proposed by the BIS. It records tokenized digital versions of commercial bank deposits and central bank reserves while allowing participating central banks to keep control over their own currencies and operations. The prototype also explored automated payment instructions, shared data standards and tools that could reduce manual steps and reconciliation.
A core focus of the project is atomic settlement. This means linked parts of a payment settle together or not at all, which can help reduce settlement risk and improve certainty in payments that involve more than one currency. The project also examined privacy tools and legal questions, including when payments are considered final across jurisdictions.
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TD Bank U.S. serves more than 10 million clients and has a network of approximately 1,050 locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Carolinas and Florida. TD Bank U.S. is one of the largest banks in the U.S. by assets and is headquartered in Mount Laurel, N.J.
