Payward, the financial infrastructure company behind Kraken, has partnered with Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) to provide selected institutional clients in Asia and the Gulf region with 24/7 settlement for U.S. dollar transactions.
Under the partnership announced on October 5, Payward has integrated SGB Net, the bank’s real-time, multi-currency clearing network. The integration allows eligible institutional clients to settle qualifying transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including outside traditional banking hours.
The initial service is limited to U.S. dollar transactions and a select group of institutional customers in supported jurisdictions. Payward and SGB said they plan to expand the service to additional clients and currencies, although they have not provided a timeline for those additions.
Settlement Meets 24/7 Crypto Trading
The partnership connects banking settlement infrastructure with digital-asset markets, which operate around the clock.
Through SGB Net, an eligible SGB client can deposit funds with Payward and make them available for trading without waiting for normal banking hours. The arrangement is designed to reduce delays between fiat banking activity and digital-asset trading.
Singapore Gulf Bank will also work with Kraken Prime, Payward’s institutional prime brokerage platform, to access an additional source of digital-asset liquidity. SGB said it will draw on Payward’s markets to help price digital-asset trades for its customers.
Payward Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg said the partnership addresses a common banking constraint for crypto businesses, where settlement can remain tied to business-hour schedules while digital-asset markets continue trading.
SGB Chief Executive Officer Shawn Chan said access to liquidity is only useful when clients can move funds when needed. He said the connection between SGB Net, Payward, and Kraken Prime brings settlement and liquidity closer together for clients managing digital-asset activity.
The companies did not disclose the number of institutions included in the initial rollout or the expected trading volume.
SGB Net Handles $20 Billion Monthly
SGB launched SGB Net in 2025 as a real-time clearing network for businesses operating across traditional and digital financial markets. As per SGB, the network now processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month.
That compares with more than $2 billion in monthly fiat transaction volume reported by SGB in February. The earlier figure came as SGB announced an expansion of SGB Net to include stablecoin functionality.
SGB is a fully licensed digital bank regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and is backed by Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore-based Whampoa Group.
The bank has expanded its payment infrastructure through relationships with other financial institutions. Earlier in 2026, SGB joined J.P. Morgan’s correspondent banking network and adopted Wire 365 for continuous U.S. dollar clearing. In May, it also announced a partnership with Standard Chartered focused on multi-currency clearing and settlement across Asia and the Middle East.
SGB has previously expanded its links between traditional banking and digital assets. In September 2025, the bank partnered with Binance Bahrain to enable direct U.S. dollar transfers between SGB accounts and Binance Bahrain accounts, allowing customers to deposit and withdraw funds more directly.
Payward Expands Banking Infrastructure
The SGB partnership follows Payward’s broader expansion of infrastructure connecting fiat and digital-asset markets.
Payward Banking is designed to support the movement of cash across deposits, payments, cards, custody, and lending. Payward has also been expanding relationships with banks and financial institutions as it develops infrastructure for institutional digital-asset markets.
In September, Payward announced a similar 24/7 settlement arrangement with SoFi in the United States. That partnership also connected Payward to a real-time payment network and gave SoFi access to Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital-asset liquidity.
The new SGB arrangement extends the 24/7 settlement model to selected institutional customers in parts of Asia and the Gulf region.
For now, U.S. dollars remain the only settlement currency confirmed for the Payward-SGB rollout. The companies said they expect to add additional currencies and clients over time, but have not announced specific launch dates.
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