Payward and SGB Launch 24/7 Institutional Settlement in Asia and Gulf
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has partnered with Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) to introduce 24/7 U.S. dollar settlement services for institutional clients in Asia and the Gulf. The integration with SGB Net, the bank's real-time clearing network, enables continuous settlement, addressing the gap between round-the-clock trading and traditional banking hours. Initially, the service will be available to select institutional clients, with plans to expand to more currencies and users in the future.
SGB Net processes over $20 billion in fiat transactions monthly and will utilize Kraken Prime for digital-asset liquidity pricing. This collaboration follows Payward's similar partnership with SoFi, extending the 24/7 settlement model to new regions. SGB, licensed by Bahrain’s central bank, combines conventional banking services with digital-asset solutions, including stablecoin interoperability.
Payward's Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Greenberg, highlighted the mismatch between continuous trading and banking cut-off times, emphasizing the need for settlement that matches market operations. The partnership also aligns with Payward's broader strategy of integrating regulated banking connections, such as its pending OCC crypto trust charter application in the U.S.