Payward and Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) have partnered to enable round-the-clock settlement for institutional digital asset clients across Asia and the Gulf region, the companies announced on October 5, 2026. The integration of SGB Net, SGB’s real-time multi-currency clearing network, eliminates traditional banking settlement delays and allows clients to deposit funds and execute trades at any hour of the day or night.
- Launch date: October 5, 2026
- Initial currency: US dollar transactions for select clients
- SGB Net monthly volume: Over $20 billion in fiat transactions
- SGB backing: Mumtalakat (Bahrain sovereign wealth fund) and Whampoa Group (Singapore)
Institutional settlement between banks and trading venues has historically required multiple days and adhered to fixed business-hour cut-offs, despite digital asset markets operating continuously. SGB Net resolves this constraint by processing transactions instantly, 24 hours daily. SGB will also partner with Kraken Prime, Payward’s prime brokerage offering, to access liquidity for its digital asset services and price trades for customers using Payward’s markets.
Exchanges, payment providers, OTC desks and fintechs all run into the same banking constraint. Settlement stops when the business day does, while their markets do not. SGB has built settlement infrastructure that reflects the future of digital asset banking and payments. Every regulated bank we connect with this way brings us closer to a world where settlement and cross-border payments happen in real time, wherever our clients are.
– Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer, Payward
Access to liquidity is only useful if clients can move funds when they need to. By connecting SGB Net with Payward and partnering with Kraken Prime, we are bringing settlement and liquidity closer together, giving clients more flexibility in how they fund and manage their digital asset activity.
– Shawn Chan, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Gulf Bank
The partnership supports Payward Banking, the company’s cash management layer that modernizes fund movement across deposits, payments, cards, custody, and lending. SGB, fully licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, offers corporate and personal banking accounts globally with multi-currency services and remote account opening. Payward plans to add additional banking partners to expand services worldwide as traditional banking and digital asset markets converge.
Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer at Payward. Source: LinkedIn
Shawn Chan, Chief Executive Officer at Singapore Gulf Bank. Source: LinkedIn
