Fedwire
Fedwire is the Federal Reserve’s real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. Each payment settles individually and immediately in central bank money during operating hours, and once settled it is final and irrevocable. It is the rail US banks use for high-value, time-critical dollar payments — the domestic "wire transfer."
By Raj Lad, Founder & CTOLast updated July 2026
Because settlement is gross (payment by payment) and in Federal Reserve balances, Fedwire carries effectively no credit risk between banks and no practical amount limit — but it runs on business days within defined hours, and each transfer costs more than an ACH item. Finality is the feature: a received Fedwire cannot be clawed back the way an ACH debit can be returned.
Infinite offers Fedwire alongside ACH and RTP from one API, so a treasury team can wire the $5M transfer, batch the payroll, and send the urgent midnight payment over RTP — without three integrations.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fedwire the same as a wire transfer?
A domestic US wire is a Fedwire payment — each transfer settles individually and immediately in central bank money. International wires are different: SWIFT messages settled through correspondent accounts. Wire transfer
What are Fedwire’s operating hours?
Fedwire runs on business days only, opening at 9 p.m. Eastern the prior calendar day and closing at 7 p.m. Eastern — no weekends or holidays. For payments that must land outside those hours, RTP settles instantly 24/7/365, within its network limit. RTP
How much does a Fedwire transfer cost?
Banks commonly charge $25–35 to send a domestic wire — far above the cents the network itself charges per transfer. The fee buys immediate, irrevocable settlement in central bank money, with no practical amount limit.
See how it works on the network.
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