Definition
FedNow is the Federal Reserve’s 24x7x365 real-time gross settlement (RTGS) instant payment service launched July 2023, enabling financial institutions to deliver end-to-end instant payments to customers.
Key Points
- Serves ~1,800+ participating institutions covering >50% of US checking/savings accounts
- Uses iso-20022 message formats
- 2026-09-23: Fed announced cross-border pilot — US domestic leg via FedNow, international via correspondent banks; enhanced ISO 20022 for cross-border routing (2026-09-25-fednow-cross-border-payments-pilot)
- Regulation J amendments proposed April 2026 to permit non-Reserve Bank intermediaries