(27 March 2026 – Canada) BMO has become the first Canadian bank to launch tokenized deposits in partnership with Google Cloud and CME Group.
Bank of Montreal (BMO) is set to introduce new 24/7 tokenized cash capabilities that will allow institutional clients to move value more easily and securely using CME Group’s permissioned network on Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL).
“We are excited to work with CME Group and Google Cloud to deliver a truly innovative solution that modernizes capital market efficiency as the industry advances toward more continuous trading and settlement” commented BMO Head, North American Treasury and Payment Solutions, Derek Vernon.
“With the world moving toward 24/7 trading, CME Group is focused on providing the efficiencies our clients need to manage collateral and margin costs” said CME Group COO and Global Head of Clearing, Suzanne Sprague.
“Our collaboration with CME Group and BMO demonstrates how Google Cloud’s innovative infrastructure solves the complex challenges in finance and empowers our partners to fundamentally transform their businesses” stated Google Cloud Managing Director, Web3 and Digital Assets, James Tromans.
“While tokenized deposits solve for 24/7 value transfers across borders, the tokenized cash product with CME ensures mutual clients can leverage their tokenized deposit at the bank to be used for real-time settlement on CME. This means just in time liquidity as opposed to pre-funding buffer. While big GSIBs have all invested to have tokenized deposit offerings, there are few external partnerships where their tokenized cash are accepted for settlement in capital market use cases” stated Tokenization Insight Founder, Harvey Li.
Key features of the new capabilities include:
- Tokenized cash: Available to mutual clients of CME Group and BMO, the bank plans to offer an institutional settlement instrument to regulated financial services firms operating in capital markets and the commercial banking space in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
- Tokenized deposits: This will allow BMO to offer traditional commercial bank funds in digital form, made available to a broader set of BMO clients to enable general-purpose B2B payments, treasury movements, and programmable cash applications.
- Always-on movement of value: BMO clients will be able to convert U.S. dollars into tokenized deposits and tokenized cash 24/7, allowing the bank to meet global market needs such as extended trading hours, more continuous operations and moving collateral without traditional cutoff constraints.
HSBC recently expanded its Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS) offering in Hong Kong to enable corporate clients to securely execute cross border payments.