ACI Worldwide is adding intelligent routing for Swift ledger transactions to ACI Connetic, allowing banks to manage tokenized deposit payments alongside traditional payment flows through a common payments infrastructure.

ACI Worldwide is expanding its ACI Connetic cloud-native payments hub to support intelligent routing for transactions processed through Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, targeting a key operational challenge for banks adopting tokenized deposits: integrating digital-asset payments without creating a separate payments operation.

The capability is designed to let banks process tokenized deposit payments alongside conventional payment types using the same operational controls, workflows and infrastructure. ACI says the approach will allow financial institutions to route, monitor, control and reconcile Swift ledger transactions through the payment environment they already use.

The development comes as Swift moves its blockchain-based ledger from development toward initial live use. In July 2026, Swift said 17 banks across six continents were preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenized deposits for 24/7 cross-border payments. Swift said the ledger is designed to enable participating banks to move tokenized deposits across borders while maintaining connections to existing payment infrastructure and operational controls.

For banks, the technology question is therefore shifting from whether tokenized deposits can be used in controlled pilots to how those transactions can be incorporated into production payment operations.

ACI is positioning Connetic around that transition. Rather than requiring financial institutions to establish a dedicated workflow for tokenized transactions, the company says the platform can bring Swift ledger payments into the same operating environment used for other payment flows.

That is significant because tokenized deposits introduce another form of digital value into an already complex payments landscape. Banks still need to manage routing decisions, transaction controls, reconciliation, monitoring and operational resilience regardless of the underlying payment mechanism.

ACI Connetic is designed to provide a common integration layer for payment types and payment rails. According to ACI, banks can use bank- and customer-defined rules to select the appropriate clearing and settlement route based on factors such as speed, cost, availability and customer requirements.

The result is intended to be payment orchestration rather than a standalone digital-asset workflow. Instead of treating tokenized deposits as an entirely separate payment category, the platform places them within the same decision and operational framework as conventional payment flows.

Craig Ramsey, SVP and Head of Account-to-Account Payments at ACI Worldwide, said digital assets should extend existing banking capabilities rather than require institutions to build a second payment operation. He described the Connetic integration as a way for banks to operationalize tokenized deposits using existing people, controls and processes.

The timing is notable because Swift’s ledger has been designed specifically with interoperability in mind. Swift says its blockchain-based ledger is intended to complement existing infrastructure rather than replace established payment systems. Its initial use case focuses on real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized deposits, with settlement remaining connected to existing systems.

Swift’s July announcement identified banks including ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, DBS, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, MUFG, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB and Wells Fargo among those preparing to pilot initial live transactions.

The broader infrastructure is being developed against a substantial existing payments network. Swift says it connects more than 11,500 financial institutions across more than 200 countries and territories, while its network handled an average of 59.8 million payment messages per day in 2025 and recorded 99.998% network availability.

That installed infrastructure is important to the tokenization story. Banks adopting digital forms of money still need interoperability with existing payment systems, identity frameworks, compliance processes and operational controls. The ability to connect tokenized value to established infrastructure could consequently be as important as the underlying blockchain technology.

ACI’s announcement also extends the company’s broader strategy around cloud-native payment orchestration. Earlier in September, ACI expanded Connetic with financial messaging capabilities intended to help banks modernize domestic and cross-border payments infrastructure and support real-time processing.

The company now plans to demonstrate the Swift ledger integration at Sibos 2026 in Miami, where ACI executives will discuss how banks can incorporate ledger-based transactions into production payment environments. Live demonstrations are scheduled for September 30 at ACI’s stand.

The emerging model points to a wider shift in banking infrastructure. Tokenized deposits, blockchain-based settlement and other forms of digital money are moving beyond isolated experimentation, but their commercial adoption depends on fitting them into the operational systems banks already trust.

For payment technology providers, that creates a new orchestration challenge. Banks will need infrastructure capable of handling traditional payment rails and emerging digital-value networks without multiplying operational complexity.

ACI Connetic’s Swift ledger integration addresses that requirement at the payment-hub layer. Its longer-term significance will depend on how quickly tokenized deposit use expands beyond pilots and how effectively banks integrate these transactions into everyday cross-border payment operations.

Market Landscape

The global payments market is moving toward greater interoperability between traditional payment rails and emerging digital forms of value. Swift’s blockchain-based ledger is designed to support 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized deposits while remaining connected to existing banking infrastructure.

This creates a new requirement for payment orchestration platforms: supporting multiple payment types and settlement environments through consistent controls, routing logic, monitoring and reconciliation.

For banks, the competitive issue is increasingly less about adopting blockchain in isolation and more about integrating tokenized assets into resilient, regulated payment operations.

Top Insights

• ACI Connetic is adding intelligent routing for Swift ledger transactions, bringing tokenized deposit payments into a common bank payment environment.
• Swift says 17 banks across six continents are preparing to pilot live tokenized-deposit transactions through its blockchain-based ledger.
• ACI’s routing model uses configurable rules to balance payment speed, cost, availability and customer requirements across payment flows.
• Swift’s ledger is designed to complement existing infrastructure, making interoperability a central requirement for tokenized cross-border payments.
• The development highlights the growing role of payment orchestration in connecting conventional rails with emerging digital-value networks.

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