Vantage and Rio complete loan payment using Hazel tokenized deposits

Vantage Bank and Rio Bank have completed a principal and interest payment for a loan participation through Participate’s lending services platform using tokenized deposits on Hazel Network, according to ChainCatcher. Participate said that after Vantage submitted the payment, the platform distributed principal and interest, with the tokenized deposits reaching the receiving institution’s digital wallet in less than three minutes. Loan balances and payment notices were updated automatically at the same time, linking a process that has traditionally relied on wire transfers, spreadsheets, and email notifications. The payment was disclosed on Oct. 19 and marks the first live implementation since the two banks began working together in April this year. Custodia CEO Caitlin Long confirmed that the transaction took place on the Ethereum mainnet. Hazel was jointly developed by Vantage and Custodia, while Participate, a BankLabs company, handled loan workflow and payment instructions. Vantage provided banking services and reserves, and Custodia managed wallets, blockchain operations, compliance, and reconciliation monitoring. According to the Hazel white paper, the settlement model combines on-chain records with traditional bank ledgers, limits transactions to approved participants, and keeps customer identity and account information off-chain.