SoFi Technologies has agreed a deal with Payward to connect its banking network to the infrastructure behind Kraken, extending the fintech company’s real-time settlement services to the digital-asset platform.
Under the agreement, Payward will join the SoFi Exchange Network (SEN), SoFi’s real-time settlement system, while SoFiUSD will be listed on Kraken. The companies announced the partnership in a statement shared with The Block on Thursday.
SoFi will also use Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital-asset liquidity for trades made through its app.
The arrangement will make SoFi’s real-time settlement network, which is currently available to its enterprise banking customers, accessible to institutional clients of Kraken. Customers using both platforms will be able to transfer dollars and manage liquidity outside traditional banking hours.
“Money and markets are converging into a new financial paradigm, and the infrastructure underneath has to catch up,” Payward Co-CEO David Ripley said. “Millions of people will buy their first crypto asset inside the app they already use for their paycheck, and the infrastructure behind that experience should connect them to deep, liquid markets built to operate at scale.”
SoFi launched SEN in April at the same time as its Big Business Banking offering. That service combines the company’s enterprise banking and digital-asset operations.
The partnership comes as SoFi continues to develop its cryptocurrency business. Crypto transaction revenue reached $134.3m in the second quarter, an increase of 10% from the first quarter. However, the figure remained a relatively small part of SoFi’s total adjusted net revenue of $1.2bn.
Payward is also expanding beyond the Kraken exchange, with a growing focus on financial infrastructure, custody and regulated services.
In May, the company applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust company charter. The application is intended to establish Payward National Trust Company.
Payward’s Wyoming-chartered bank, Kraken Financial, received a Federal Reserve master account in March. The account gives the bank direct access to the central bank’s payment system.
The agreement therefore links SoFi’s banking network with Kraken’s trading and liquidity infrastructure as both companies broaden their roles in the digital-asset financial system.
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