Silvergate says issues with inbound wire transfers tied to Fedwire payments processor have been resolved

Silvergate says that its system is now fully operational after reports of further client issues on Monday. 

The La Jolla, California-based bank had been experiencing problems with some wire transfers due to an outrage by its payment processor Finastra, as The Block previously reported. Silvergate CEO Alan Lane confirmed last week that inbound payments from clients were having difficulties going through the system, while outbound payments were being processed manually via the system’s backup infrastructure. 

Going into this week, Silvergate clients continued to experience problems with such wires. TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, for instance, reported in a Monday tweet that his funds had been locked for days.

In a Tuesday message to The Block, Lane said that Silvergate’s system is now fully functional. 

"We are back to 100% capacity," Lane said. "We were able to get reconnected to the Fed Monday morning, and first cleared the queue of all outgoing wires from Friday. At the same time, all API enabled wires (incoming and outgoing) were flying through seamlessly."

The problem that clients experienced yesterday, he said, was due to a persisting problem with wire transfers via its Business electronic Banking (BeB) system.

"The only remaining snag yesterday was the more ‘manual’ wire transfer process through our BeB system – primarily utilized by customers who aren't as automated, i.e. they haven't coded to our API, perhaps because they don't have the high-volume need," he said. 

A partial internal report shared by Lane shows that around mid-day Monday, both incoming wires and incoming and outgoing API wire origination were at 100% capacity. With outgoing BeB origination, however, the system was still working on a batch upload process to deal with wire transfer requests submitted on Monday. 

The problem with the BeB system has now been solved, according to Lane. 

Silvergate is known for helping crypto-related clients with banking services. Its customer base – including exchange operators, institutional investors, and other customers – has increased by 40% year-to-date.