FedNow, run by the Federal Reserve, settled 4,997,811 payments worth $274.7 billion in Q2 2026. Volume rose 83% on Q1 and 135% on Q2 2025. Value rose only 1.3% on the quarter, so the average payment fell from $99,414 to $54,957. The growth came from smaller payments, not larger ones.

The Clearing House's private RTP network is still the larger US rail. It processed 142 million transactions worth $576 billion in Q2 2026, which is 28 times FedNow's volume and about twice its value. Both networks cap a single payment at $10 million, and FedNow has more than 1,800 participating institutions.

SEPA Instant (SCT Inst) had 2,821 registered participants in May 2026, close to 80% of all SEPA credit transfer adherents. In Q1 2026 it carried 35.6% of euro credit transfer volume. The EU's Instant Payments Regulation made receiving instant euro payments mandatory for euro-area banks from 9 January 2025 and sending them mandatory from 9 October 2025.

UPI processed 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 trillion in August 2026, or 791 million a day. Volume grew 22% year on year. The average ticket is about ₹1,217, under $15. At that daily rate, UPI clears FedNow's entire Q2 volume in about nine minutes.

On FedNow and RTP, only depository institutions participate directly. A US money transmitter licence, even a full set of state licences, does not give a fintech a Fed account. Fintechs reach FedNow through a sponsor bank, which keeps control of onboarding, limits and pricing.

The Federal Reserve proposed a narrower "payment account" on 20 May 2026 for legally eligible institutions that are not federally insured. It would pay no interest, carry no intraday credit or discount-window access, and cap closing balances. Reserve Banks have paused decisions on Tier 3 access requests until the policy is final. If the account is adopted, an uninsured state charter that qualifies becomes the shortest route for a non-bank to settle directly with the Fed.

In the EU, the Instant Payments Regulation amended the Settlement Finality Directive so that payment institutions and e-money institutions can participate directly in designated payment systems, including TARGET and the TIPS instant settlement service. A licensed EMI no longer needs a correspondent bank to settle instant euro payments. Of the three regions, only the EU lets a non-bank licence reach the central rail directly.

UPI is run by the National Payments Corporation of India. Third-party apps such as PhonePe and Google Pay operate with sponsor PSP banks, and non-bank prepaid instrument issuers take part as issuers. A foreign fintech enters through a bank partnership or an RBI authorisation, not through a licence held elsewhere.

EU payment institutions and EMIs in the euro area must send and receive SCT Inst by 9 April 2027. Outside the euro area, providers must receive instant euro payments by 9 January 2027 and send them by 9 July 2027. Each deadline brings three duties: free Verification of Payee before every payment, daily sanctions screening of the provider's own customers, and price parity, meaning an instant transfer cannot cost more than a standard one.

Price parity ends the instant-payment fee as a revenue line. An EMI whose model charged a premium for instant euro transfers loses that margin by law. A buyer assessing an EU EMI in 2026 should treat IPR readiness as a closing condition, and check whether the target has joined the SCT Inst and VoP schemes or has a costed plan to do so before April 2027. Our EMI vs SEMI vs PI vs SPI comparison covers which licence types these obligations reach. Lithuania vs Malta vs Cyprus covers where EMIs are most often acquired.

In India, NPCI set a 30% cap on any single third-party app's share of UPI volume, with compliance due by 31 December 2026. PhonePe processed about 47% of UPI volume in April 2026. If the cap takes effect, the leading apps will have to shed volume, and smaller apps with a UPI licence become the natural receivers.

FedNow charges banks $0.045 per credit transfer and $0.01 per request for payment. In 2026, the first 2,500 transfers each month are discounted to zero and the $25 monthly participation fee is waived. Settlement at that cost is nearly free, so value comes from the product built on the rail, not from the transfer itself.

UPI person-to-merchant payments carry no merchant discount rate by government policy, so a UPI app earns nothing on the core payment. App revenue comes from lending, merchant services and distribution. This is why a UPI app's valuation rests on its user base and its authorisations rather than on payment fees.

SEPA Instant pricing is left to each provider under the parity rule. Across the three rails, instant settlement stops being a paid feature and becomes a basic requirement.

UPI is live in 11 countries, including Singapore, the UAE, France, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Qatar and Greece. Most of these links are merchant acceptance for Indian travellers. The one two-way interbank link is UPI–PayNow with Singapore, running since February 2023 and limited to ₹60,000 per Indian sender. Cross-border UPI transactions grew from 37,060 in FY2024 to 755,445 in FY2025. India received $135 billion in remittances in FY2025, mostly through correspondent channels that cost 3–4% per transfer.

Project Nexus will connect the fast payment systems of India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, with a target of settling most payments within 60 seconds. FedNow and SEPA Instant have no equivalent cross-border link. A US-to-EU payment still moves by SWIFT or through a licensed intermediary holding accounts on both sides. That is the gap the seven payment-rails deals of 2026 were priced on.

An EU EMI or PI is the only non-bank licence of the three that settles directly on a central instant rail. The same licence carries an April 2027 compliance project that the buyer inherits if the seller has not finished it.

A US money transmitter portfolio gives market coverage but not rail access. Its value depends on the sponsor bank relationship that comes with it. If the Fed adopts the payment account, uninsured charters eligible for it gain value over MTL-only entities.

In India, a UPI-enabled app or a payment aggregator authorisation is the entry ticket, and the 30% cap could shift volume to smaller holders from 2027. Current licence listings show asking prices for EMIs, PIs and payment entities across these regions. Fintech licensing and incorporation covers the application route where no target fits.

This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or regulatory advice. Figures come from operator statistics, regulator publications and press reporting as at September 2026. Proposed rules, including the Federal Reserve payment account and the UPI market share cap, may change before they take effect. N5Deal is an M&A marketplace operated by N5Deal LTD (company no. 17353242). It is not a regulated financial institution, and nothing on this page is an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any business, licence or financial instrument.