HSBC and Ant Digital Technologies conducted a technical trial on October 9, 2026, testing autonomous AI agents that independently searched for and purchased digital services. The agents executed micropayments using tokenized bank deposits as the underlying currency.
The test integrated HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service (TDS) with Ant Digital’s Anvita Flow network. During the trial, transactions were typically valued at under $2 and settled in real time. HSBC maintained oversight through a bank-side interface that performed risk checks during the process.
This demonstration was strictly a technical exercise without live customers or commercial applications. The TDS platform, which launched in Hong Kong in 2025, represents corporate deposits as on-chain digital records on a 1:1 basis, allowing for continuous fund movement.
The collaboration between HSBC and Ant Digital on blockchain-enabled payments dates back to at least 2023. Recently, around October 6–7, 2026, the companies also announced pilot programs in the Middle East for intra-UAE dirham transactions and cross-border USD payments.
