Singapore Gulf Bank has expanded its U.S. dollar payment services through BNY’s 24/7 transfer network, giving eligible corporate and retail clients access to qualifying transfers during weekends and U.S. public holidays.
Summary
- Eligible clients can transfer dollars outside traditional U.S. banking hours through BNY’s enrolled banking network.
- SGB’s Payward connection separately supports instant dollar settlement for selected institutions across Asia and the Gulf.
- The bank says its SGB Net platform processes more than $20 billion in monthly fiat transactions.
- BNY has also announced institutional staking plans and blockchain-based fund ownership recordkeeping.
Singapore Gulf Bank announced on Oct. 12 that it had adopted BNY’s 24/7 USD Book Transfers service, describing itself as one of the first financial institutions globally to use the solution.
Under the arrangement, the bank said qualifying dollar transfers can settle at any hour between eligible accounts held directly at BNY or through correspondent banks enrolled in the service. Access depends on the participating bank and account meeting the network’s requirements.
For corporate customers, SGB identified account funding, supplier payments and time-sensitive cross-border treasury transactions among the supported uses. Its announcement also included eligible retail customers, extending access beyond businesses managing international cash balances.
Singapore Gulf Bank extends payments beyond U.S. banking hours
Explaining the need for the service, SGB Executive Vice Chairman Ali Moosa pointed to customers whose operations span markets with different working hours.
“Our clients operate across markets and time zones, and their business needs do not always fall within traditional US banking hours,” Moosa said.
From BNY’s side, Bana Akkad Azhari, its EMEA head of global payments and trade, said continuous dollar settlement would help institutions manage available cash and meet urgent payment obligations.
The relationship predates the latest service expansion. In an April 7 announcement, SGB said it had joined BNY’s correspondent banking network to strengthen its U.S. dollar clearing capabilities and add another payment provider.
According to that earlier statement, SGB began corporate banking services in late 2024 before introducing SGB Net in May 2025 for real-time settlement across multiple currencies.
Despite its name, SGB operates under a banking license from the Central Bank of Bahrain. The bank identifies Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore investment group Whampoa Group as its backers.
Payward connection adds instant funding for institutional trading
A week before the BNY expansion, crypto.news reported on Payward’s 24/7 institutional settlement partnership with SGB, announced on Oct. 5.
According to the companies, Kraken parent Payward connected to SGB Net so selected institutional customers across supported Asian and Gulf jurisdictions could settle transactions instantly. The initial service covers U.S. dollars, with additional currencies and customers planned for later stages.
For eligible SGB customers, Payward said the connection allows funds deposited with its platform to become available for trading immediately, including outside normal banking hours.
Alongside settlement, the companies said SGB would add Kraken Prime as a source of digital asset liquidity. Over the following months, the bank planned to use Payward’s markets when setting trade prices for its customers.
In the partnership announcement, Payward put SGB Net’s monthly fiat transaction volume above $20 billion. The company described the network as serving digital asset businesses with growing payment and settlement needs.
Payward Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg attributed the demand to exchanges, payment providers, over-the-counter trading desks and financial technology firms operating continuously while banks maintain fixed settlement cutoffs.
BNY’s reported Payward talks cover six business areas
Separately, an Oct. 2 report described BNY and Payward’s potential crypto services partnership as covering six areas: crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and financial infrastructure.
According to two people familiar with the discussions, the proposed arrangement could involve Payward Services supplying infrastructure to financial institutions. The report described ongoing negotiations, with no assurance that an agreement would follow.
For U.S. financial markets, BNY’s own announcement on Jan. 9 provided a separate example of its work on cash settlement infrastructure.
Beginning with collateral and margin transactions, the bank said its deposit-tokenization service creates blockchain entries representing participating customers’ existing demand deposit claims against BNY.
According to the bank, the service runs on a private blockchain restricted to authorized participants. Customer balances remain recorded in its traditional systems, and existing risk, compliance, and control procedures govern the capability.
Galaxy agreement combines custody and staking services
On Aug. 4, Galaxy announced its institutional staking agreement with BNY, bringing planned staking capabilities into the bank’s Digital Asset Custody platform.
Galaxy said it would provide staking infrastructure and help design BNY’s digital asset platform. Under the proposed model, eligible institutions could access staking alongside custody, fund accounting, tax reporting, payments and client reporting where applicable.
According to the companies, customer assets would remain within BNY’s custody framework while using Galaxy’s staking infrastructure. Galaxy’s announcement made the staking offering and related platform improvements subject to regulatory review.
Fund platform keeps ownership records on blockchain
In July, a report on BNY’s blockchain fund ownership records described a digital transfer agency platform for maintaining investor transactions and official shareholder records on a shared ledger.
According to the Financial Times report covered on July 29, BNY would continue its existing transfer agency services alongside the blockchain system. The report put that business at approximately $8.6 trillion in supported assets across 7.6 million investor accounts.
Among the early users, Baillie Gifford planned to adopt the platform for a regulated tokenized fund in the United Kingdom. The same report identified BlackRock and BNY Dreyfus’ money market fund and cash management business as expected users for future tokenized fund offerings.