Instant payments compared: FedNow, RTP, SEPA Instant, Faster Payments, Pix and UPI

An instant payment system moves money between banks in seconds and settles it there and then, every day of the year. Fifteen years ago that was rare. Now almost every large economy has one, and some have two. They share a design goal but differ in who runs them, what they cost and how widely banks have joined.

The main systems side by side

The US: two systems, uneven reach

RTP and FedNow do the same job. Each bank chooses which to join, and many smaller banks have joined neither. So an instant payment in the US depends on both banks being on the same network. When they are not, the payment falls back to ACH or a wire. Our ACH vs wire guide covers those older rails.

Europe: instant by law

In the euro area, the Instant Payments Regulation made banks receive and send SEPA Instant transfers and stopped them charging more than for a standard transfer. Banks in EU countries outside the euro follow in 2027; see the 2027 SEPA Instant deadlines.

Brazil and India: instant as the default

Pix and UPI are the clearest successes. Both are run or overseen by public bodies, cost little or nothing for individuals, and became the normal way to pay within a few years. Contractors and suppliers there often expect to be paid this way. The BRL payments guide covers Pix for businesses, and the INR guide covers UPI and Indian bank transfers.

What none of them do

They do not cross borders. A FedNow payment cannot land in a SEPA account. Projects to link instant systems exist, but for now the cross-border part still runs on correspondent banking, card networks or stablecoins.

The practical answer for a business is to hold account details in each currency it works in. A US client pays your USD account on ACH or RTP, a German client pays your IBAN on SEPA Instant, and the cross-border step happens once, inside your own balances, when you choose to convert.

Local rails on Rivet

Rivet gives a company USD details on every plan and EUR and GBP details on Growth, and pays out on local rails including ACH, RTP, SEPA and Faster Payments. See Payouts.