Finance09 October, 20262 min read
HSBC And Ant Digital Test AI-Agent Micropayments Using Tokenized Deposits On Jovay Testnet
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HSBC and Ant Digital tested AI-agent payments using tokenized deposits on a testnet. Trial showed real-time settlement and risk checks during micropayments.
HSBC and Ant Run Trial
HSBC and Ant Digital Technologies tested a system in which an AI agent selected a digital service and completed micropayments using HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service. The companies said the trial combined HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service with Ant Digital’s Anvita Flow network and ran transactions on Jovay Testnet, a layer-2 blockchain testing environment. The demonstration described transactions as micropayments, typically defined as less than $2, and it said settlement happened in real time.
HSBC and Ant Digital Technologies framed the exercise as a technical verification and said it did not represent a commercial launch or live customer offering. The companies said the test was limited to technical verification and did not represent a commercial launch or live customer offering.
How the System Worked
HSBC provided settlement capabilities and real-time risk checks, while Ant Digital’s network coordinated service access and payments in the test. The trial paired HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service, known as TDS, with Ant Digital’s Anvita Flow network, and it said the core demonstration was autonomous. The companies said AI agents located digital services, invoked them, and executed micropayments to pay for what they used.
The test described risk checks running through an interface that sits on the bank’s side, meaning HSBC kept its hands on the controls even as the agents did the spending. The companies said the test was strictly a technical exercise, with no commercial applications and no confirmed transaction values beyond the test environment.
Broader Push, Open Questions
HSBC’s trial joined other bank experiments, including Santander’s March AI-agent-initiated payment using Mastercard’s Agent Pay infrastructure in a controlled test involving the bank’s live payment systems.
Sygnum’s May test involved AI-agent-driven transactions on a blockchain mainnet, and the test required customers to approve and sign each transaction.
CaixaBank’s example involved an AI-agent-initiated card transaction using Visa Intelligent Commerce and existing merchant payment systems, according to the test descriptions.
Augustus Bank CEO Ferdinand Dabitz argued that traditional clearing banks rely on decades-old systems designed for human operations rather than automated, around-the-clock transactions.
Citrini Research’s Oct. 8 report titled Breaking The Wall said, "AI agents move programmatically, 24/7, across applications, and it’s only logical that money and financial assets eventually will, too," while the sources also stressed that HSBC and Ant’s trial did not prove commercial readiness.