- Bahrain-based digital bank SGB opened a correspondent banking account with J.P. Morgan.
- It improves cross-border payment speed, security, and reliability for SGB’s clients.
- With Wire 365, SGB can now receive and credit incoming funds outside traditional cut-off times.
Singapore Gulf Bank, a Bahrain-licensed digital lender that has positioned itself as a bridge between Gulf and Asian capital flows, opened a correspondent banking account with JPMorgan Chase & Co.. The arrangement provides the bank direct access to one of the largest U.S. dollar clearing networks and extends its ability to process cross-border payments outside traditional banking hours.
The arrangement plugs Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) into J.P. Morgan Payments’ infrastructure at a time when corporate treasurers and digital-asset firms are pushing for “always-on” settlement—reducing delays created by weekend and holiday cutoffs that can trap liquidity in transit. SGB said the relationship expands a broader mix of correspondent links and payment systems that also includes its own real-time settlement network, SGB Net, which it launched last year to support multi-currency transfers.
A key feature of the new setup is SGB’s rollout of J.P. Morgan Payments’ Wire 365 service, which is designed to enable U.S. dollar clearing 365 days a year, including weekends and public holidays. SGB said that would allow it to receive and credit incoming client funds beyond the traditional cutoff windows used across much of the global banking system.
The collaboration was formalized at a signing ceremony at SGB’s headquarters in Bahrain. J.P. Morgan Payments—JPMorgan’s unit that provides services spanning treasury, trade and working capital, and merchant and card capabilities—typically processes more than US$10 trillion of payments per day across more than 160 countries and over 120 currencies.
While large banks have long provided correspondent banking services for regional lenders, the move highlights how newer “digital-first” banks in the Gulf are increasingly leaning on the established U.S. dollar clearing system while building parallel rails aimed at faster settlement for institutional clients.
Wire 365 is part of J.P. Morgan’s broader push toward what it has described as “always-on” clearing. A Global Finance Magazine report on Wire365 said the product is built to support U.S. dollar wire activity beyond traditional processing cutoffs, with extended clearing windows intended to help institutions in time zones across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East manage working capital and liquidity even on weekends and holidays.
SGB said it is among the first digital banks in the Middle East and North Africa to implement Wire 365, framing the service as a way to provide near real-time access to cross-border payments throughout the year. In the region, other lenders have also moved to adopt similar capabilities: Bahrain’s National Bank of Bahrain Group said in mid-2025 that it had activated Wire 365 and described itself as the first in the Middle East and Africa region to use the solution.
SGB’s announcement builds on a series of initiatives aimed at expanding its corporate and transaction banking footprint. The bank launched corporate banking services in late 2024 under regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain, pitching a platform for companies managing both traditional finance and digital-asset activity. In May 2025, it launched SGB Net, which it said enables real-time, multi-currency clearing designed for the operational needs of digital-asset participants.
More recently, SGB said it partnered with Fireblocks, a digital-asset infrastructure provider, to support secure treasury management and digital-asset custody—an indication that it is targeting institutional workflows that move between fiat and tokenized markets.
The bank has also sought to raise its profile internationally. In May 2025, SGB named former Federal Reserve vice chair Randal Quarles as vice chairman of a newly formed global advisory board as it pursued international expansion. SGB is backed by Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore-based Whampoa Group. Moreover, SGB has positioned itself as the first fully licensed digital bank in the MENA region.
In a statement shared with AlexaBlockchain, SGB Executive Vice Chairman Ali Moosa said joining J.P. Morgan’s network strengthened the bank’s role in linking Asia and the Gulf and would provide clients with a route for U.S. dollar clearing with speed and certainty.
J.P. Morgan Payments’ Nawaf Humood said the collaboration highlighted SGB’s expanding position and highlighted Bahrain’s support for financial innovation.
For corporate clients, the implication is that dollar flows—still the dominant currency for trade, investment and commodities pricing—can increasingly be managed on a near-continuous basis. That can be particularly relevant for firms operating across multiple time zones or managing collateral and settlement obligations that don’t pause for weekends, including market participants active in digital assets.
The deal also shows a broader shift in payments: rather than replacing the existing correspondent banking system outright, digital banks are increasingly layering new real-time capabilities on top of legacy rails, using major global banks’ clearing networks for reach and resilience while building proprietary infrastructure for speed and integration with modern treasury stacks.
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