FedNow vs RTP: how the two US instant payment networks compare

The United States has two instant payment networks: FedNow, run by the Federal Reserve Banks, and RTP, run by The Clearing House. Both move money between US bank accounts in seconds, around the clock, and both are final once the money lands. They differ in who owns them, how they settle, how many banks use them and how much traffic they carry. This page sets them side by side, explains what the differences mean for you as a bank customer and shows why neither one, on its own, can send money to another country. For the wider picture of moving money abroad, see our international money transfer guide.

What are FedNow and RTP?

FedNow and RTP are the two networks that let US banks move money between accounts in seconds, at any hour, every day of the year.

Both are credit-push systems: your bank sends the money out, rather than the payee pulling it from your account as a card merchant or a direct debit does. Each payment settles on its own and in full, and the recipient's bank has to make the money available right away. That sets them apart from ACH, which processes payments in batches on business days, and from Fedwire, which settles large payments immediately but closes on weekends and Federal Reserve holidays. Our ACH vs wire transfers guide compares those two older systems.

You may use instant payments without knowing which network carried them. Instant transfers in a bank app, real-time payouts from an employer or platform, and some bill payments run over one network or the other, and your bank decides which to join. Once credited, the money sits in an ordinary deposit account, so at an insured bank it is covered by FDIC insurance like any other deposit.

How do FedNow and RTP compare?

On paper they look alike, with the same $10 million limit, the same network fee per payment and the same 24/7 hours.

The differences that matter to you are reach and limits. Each network reaches only the banks that have joined it, so your bank and the recipient's have to be on the same one, and a bank can join to receive only. The $10 million figures are ceilings; the limit on your account is whatever your bank sets.

Who operates FedNow and RTP?

FedNow belongs to the Federal Reserve Banks, the operating arm of the US central bank, while RTP belongs to The Clearing House, a private company owned by large commercial banks.

The Clearing House launched RTP on November 13, 2017, describing it as the first new core payments infrastructure in the US in more than 40 years. Twenty-five owner banks designed it, but any federally insured depository institution can join without buying a stake. The network's limit rose from $100,000 to $1 million in April 2022 and to $10 million on February 9, 2025.

The Fed launched FedNow on July 20, 2023, so that banks of any size or location could offer instant payments. Community banks and credit unions made up more than 95% of its participants in June 2025. Its limit went from $500,000 to $1 million on June 24, 2025, and to $10 million in November 2025.

Ownership shapes how each one settles. A FedNow payment moves money between the accounts banks already hold at the Federal Reserve, so nothing has to be set aside in advance. RTP settles against a single account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that its participating banks fund ahead of time, with The Clearing House keeping a ledger of each bank's share; The Clearing House describes that settlement as final and irrevocable.

What are the FedNow and RTP limits?

Both networks cap a single payment at $10 million, but the limit on your account is set by your bank and can be much lower.

On FedNow, the network maximum is $10 million per payment (Federal Reserve Financial Services, as of Nov 2, 2026), while a bank that never changes its settings sends at most $100,000 per payment (Federal Reserve Financial Services, as of Nov 2, 2026). Since June 2025, banks can also set dollar and frequency thresholds for groups of customers, for example tighter ones for newly opened accounts. On RTP, the network limit is $10 million per payment (The Clearing House, as of Nov 2, 2026). Sending banks may set lower limits, but the rules don't let a receiving bank refuse payments below the network maximum by setting a lower cap of its own.

How many banks use FedNow and RTP?

FedNow has more institutions connected, but RTP carries far more payments.

More than 1,800 banks and credit unions were live on FedNow by July 2026, including seven of the 10 largest banks, and the Fed says the network now reaches over half of US checking and savings accounts. RTP listed over 1,378 participating institutions as of September 2026. Joining is voluntary on both, and a bank can sign up to receive payments without offering customers a way to send them.

Volume tells the opposite story. RTP handled 150 million payments worth $621 billion in the third quarter of 2026, about $4,140 per payment on average, and has processed over 1.8 billion transactions worth $3.6 trillion since 2017. FedNow settled 6,376,467 payments worth $370.9 billion in the same quarter, an average of $58,161, after 8.4 million payments worth $853.4 billion in all of 2025. Its far larger average suggests much of its traffic is business and treasury payments rather than everyday personal transfers.

The always-open design gets used. When it announced the higher limit in December 2024, The Clearing House said 42% of RTP transactions took place overnight, on weekends or on holidays, when Fedwire and ACH don't settle.

What do FedNow and RTP cost?

The networks charge banks a few cents per payment, and what you pay is up to your bank.

In 2026 both charge the sending bank $0.045 per payment and nothing to receive. FedNow waives that fee on up to 2,500 payments a month for 2026 and has waived its $25 monthly participation fee for the year. RTP has no volume discounts or minimums, though banks pay separately for their connection. A request for payment costs $0.01 on either network, and RTP adds a $0.10 incentive fee paid by the bank that sent the request to the bank whose customer pays it.

Customer pricing is a separate decision. A bank may include instant transfers at no charge, charge a flat fee or charge more for instant delivery than for a standard transfer. On RTP, a bank can't take its fee out of the payment itself, so the recipient receives the full amount sent.

How does request for payment work?

A request for payment is a message asking you to pay, which you approve in your banking app to send an instant payment back.

Both networks carry these requests. A utility, landlord or business can send one with the amount and due date, and when you approve it, your bank sends the payment over the same network. Nothing moves until you approve, which gives you more control than handing over account details for a direct debit. A request can also be fake, so check who sent it before approving, as you would with any bill.

Why are instant payments a fraud risk?

Because payments settle in seconds and the sender can't recall them, money sent to a scammer is usually gone before anyone notices.

RTP's rules make settlement final and irrevocable, and on FedNow the recipient's bank must credit the money immediately after accepting it. There is no chargeback like the one for card payments. A payment sent to the wrong account by mistake comes back only if the receiving bank and its customer agree to return it, which both networks have messages for.

For consumer accounts, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E apply on both networks. They protect you against unauthorized transfers, including ones a fraudster makes after stealing your login or tricking you into sharing it. A payment you send yourself after being deceived is different: it doesn't meet the rule's definition of an unauthorized transfer, so your bank isn't required to refund it.

Both operators are adding defenses for banks. FedNow offers blocked-account lists and the customer thresholds described above, launched a network intelligence API for early adopters in April 2026 that shows a receiving account's history on the network, and is working on payee name verification, which checks that a name matches the account before money moves. RTP lets a receiving bank accept a payment without posting it while it completes a legal or compliance review. Our guide to money transfer scams covers the scams that target instant payments.

Can FedNow or RTP send money abroad?

Not on their own: both networks connect only US banks, so the foreign part of any international payment travels another way.

RTP rules that took effect on October 4, 2026, created One Leg Out payments, in which the payer or the payee holds an account outside the US and RTP carries the US leg between two US banks. Banks can opt in as early adopters until March 30, 2028; from March 31, 2028, every RTP bank must be able to receive inbound One Leg Out payments. These payments carry more data than domestic ones, including the originator's address and the Swift UETR reference, so they can be traced across both legs. SWIFT codes explained covers how that reference works.

FedNow is further back. Regulation J doesn't currently let FedNow banks use an intermediary other than a Reserve Bank, so a FedNow transfer can include only two US banks. In April 2026 the Federal Reserve Board proposed allowing intermediaries such as correspondent banks, which would let FedNow carry the domestic leg of a cross-border payment. Comments closed on June 9, 2026, and the change had not been finalized as of November 2, 2026. Meanwhile, a small group of early adopters has been testing enhanced message formats that carry the extra information One Leg Out payments need.

Neither change makes an instant payment international by itself. The money still crosses the border over Swift, a correspondent bank's books, a money transfer company's own accounts or a stablecoin, and the receiving country's rules and systems take over from there. Its bank also needs your details in the right format: a US routing number only identifies a US bank, as routing number vs SWIFT code explains.

How do instant domestic payments speed up international transfers?

They shorten the US end of the journey, which is often where a transfer sits waiting for funds to clear or for a bank to open.

A money transfer service that receives your dollars by instant payment can start the transfer straight away, including at weekends, instead of waiting for an ACH debit to settle. At the other end, many countries have their own instant systems, such as India's UPI and IMPS, Brazil's Pix, Mexico's SPEI and SEPA Instant in Europe, so a provider holding local currency can pay out in seconds. Stablecoins, covered in our crypto hub and stablecoin tracker, are another always-open option between the two ends. What usually remains slow is the compliance checks and currency conversion in the middle, as our guide to how long international transfers take explains.

Money coming the other way still arrives mostly by wire. An international payment reaches a US bank through Fedwire, CHIPS or a correspondent's books, and only RTP's early adopters can take it in as a One Leg Out payment. Receiving money from abroad covers what to expect on that side.