Centiglobe and Greenbridge Target PSP Pre-Funding Costs With Tokenised Deposits
Payment service providers may be able to reduce the cash they tie up across payout markets by settling through Centiglobe Connect, a network that uses bank-agnostic tokenised deposits. Greenbridge Markets has joined as a liquidity provider, converting those tokens into fiat and back on demand. Centiglobe CEO Petter Sandgren says the model could reduce pre-funding needs by 80% to 90%; that estimate hinges on centralising liquidity and making it available across markets more quickly.
A deposit claim that travels across the network
Centiglobe, headquartered in Sweden, connects banks, payment service providers (PSPs) and electronic money institutions (EMIs) in a member-based cross-border payment network. Its tokens represent claims on deposits held at banks. Sandgren describes the payment flow as similar to a stablecoin transfer: funds are collected in local currency, converted into tokens, sent between digital wallets, then converted back for payout through a local payment system.
The distinction, in his account, is the token’s underlying claim. “A tokenised deposit is essentially a digital version of money held in a bank account,” Sandgren said. “The token itself does not have a value of its own, it represents the holder’s claim on the underlying bank deposit.” He characterises it as bank money rather than a digital asset.
Centiglobe calls the deposits bank-agnostic because members can use them beyond the issuing bank’s own network. That could allow two PSPs without a direct relationship with the issuing bank to settle through the network. Members can also hold tokenised deposits on their balance sheets and offset payments against one another, potentially reducing repeated conversions between tokens and cash.
Greenbridge provides a conversion point for members that don’t want to build that capability themselves. Sandgren says members can buy or sell tokens when needed instead of maintaining dedicated bank accounts and funding them in advance for tokenisation.
Why pre-funding ties up capital
PSPs commonly pre-fund payout partners, holding liquidity against expected payment volumes, Sandgren said. He estimates firms typically maintain enough to cover two to five days of payments with each partner. As a PSP operates across more countries, these separate balances can leave cash stranded: surplus funds in one market may not be readily available to meet a shortfall in another.
Replenishing balances can take time. Sandgren says SWIFT transfers may take two to three days to settle. In many markets, PSPs also can’t use client funds to meet pre-funding requirements, meaning they need to commit their own capital. A central pool backed by a pledged cash account at a global bank could, he argues, be netted across countries and replenished with same-day value.
Sandgren puts the potential reduction in pre-funding at 80% to 90%. He attributes the possible saving to holding liquidity in one place and making it easier to deploy across markets. The figure is a company estimate; the source does not provide details on the assumptions, member-level results or time period behind it.
For PSPs, the trade-off is between building internal capacity to accept, hold and manage tokens and relying on a service provider to convert when required. Sandgren says direct participation calls for technology, systems, accounting and legal expertise. Buying tokens as a payment begins and converting them before payout can give a PSP access to the network with less upfront investment and operational work.
Settlement controls and liquidity constraints
Greenbridge CEO Svante Hedin describes the firm as “an exchange desk between two forms of the same money: cash held in a regular bank account and its tokenised equivalent.” Centiglobe acts as settlement partner, holding the tokens and releasing them only after the cash leg has been verified. The arrangement links delivery of the tokens to receipt of the corresponding funds.
That process is intended to limit the risk that one side pays while the other fails to deliver. Sandgren says tokens can be locked until the matching cash arrives, so participants trading through Greenbridge don’t take direct settlement risk on the exchange between the two forms of money.
Hedin says Greenbridge’s remaining exposures resemble those in traditional banking: reliance on the bank behind the token, interruptions or cut-off times in payment systems, and the need to position liquidity correctly. The firm plans for its busiest plausible day rather than an average day, he said.
Liquidity can still become a constraint when demand moves sharply in one direction. Hedin said Greenbridge may have to decline a trade if all members seek the same conversion at once. He said the firm has not yet needed to do so, while acknowledging that refusing a trade would limit the service’s usefulness during a concentrated demand surge.
Hedin says the bank deposits backing the tokens, combined with Centiglobe’s delivery-versus-payment process, leave efficient transaction funding as a main cost to manage. He said this structure allows Greenbridge to keep token-to-fiat conversion costs generally below those of traditional stablecoin off-ramping.
Network scope and membership growth
Centiglobe presents its platform as technical infrastructure for a closed network of regulated financial institutions. Sandgren says each member remains licensed and supervised in its own jurisdiction and retains responsibility for anti-money-laundering controls, customers and customer funds. “Centiglobe connects the institutions technically but never takes possession of funds,” he said. Tokens originate with a member and circulate only among approved institutions.
Sandgren also pointed to differences in how tokenised deposits and stablecoins are treated under current rules. He said the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) excludes tokenised deposits that legally qualify as deposits, leaving them under banking regulation. He also said the UK’s cryptoasset regime distinguishes tokenised deposits from stablecoins.
Centiglobe says its network has 27 members, mainly PSPs alongside a select number of banks, up from five during 2025 and 2026. It expects membership to reach about 50 over the next 12 months. That growth target will test whether the model can deliver useful liquidity across a larger group while managing the operational demands of cash conversion and uneven payment flows.
For PSPs, the commercial case rests on whether access to shared liquidity can reduce idle balances without making payouts less reliable. Centiglobe’s projected savings are substantial, but the model’s practical value will depend on how efficiently members can convert funds and how Greenbridge responds when conversion demand concentrates in one direction.
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