# Cross-border payment statistics for 2026: SWIFT, ACH, UK rails and stablecoins

Swift gets over 90% of payments to the payee's bank within an hour, but only 43% to the end customer. ACH carried 35.19 billion payments in 2025 and Faster Payments 5.55 billion, and about $183 billion of USDT was in circulation in October 2026. Every figure links to its primary source.

By Pavel Skalin, Founder & CEO, Align · Updated 29 October 2026 · 4 min read · https://alignlabs.dev/guides/cross-border-payment-statistics

## The short answer

Cross-border payments are fast to reach a bank and slower to reach a person: Swift says over 90% of its payments get to the payee's bank within an hour, but in October 2024 only 43% were credited to the end customer that fast. Domestic rails carry far more payments: 35.19 billion on ACH in the US and 5.55 billion on Faster Payments in the UK in 2025. Stablecoins are smaller but growing: about $183 billion of USDT was in circulation in October 2026, mostly on Tron and Ethereum.

Every figure below links to its primary source, with the date it refers to.

## Swift and cross-border payments

| Swift figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 75% within 10 minutes | Payments reaching the beneficiary's bank | Swift, How long does a Swift payment take? (accessed October 2026) |
| Over 90% within an hour | Payments reaching the beneficiary's bank | Swift, same page |
| 43% within an hour | Payments credited to the end customer | Swift data, October 2024 |
| Over 80% | Share of total payment time spent on the final leg, from the receiving bank to the customer | Swift, October 2024 |
| 86% | Payments that go direct or through one intermediary bank | Swift data, October 2024 |
| Almost 100% within 24 hours | Swift GPI payments credited to the beneficiary | Swift GPI page, October 2026 |
| 73.1% within an hour | Cross-border payments over $100,000 received in North America in 2025 | Federal Reserve, August 2026 |
| 97% | Payment instructions sent in ISO 20022 on the day before Swift's announcement of 25 November 2025 | Swift, November 2025 |

The gap between reaching the bank and reaching the customer is why a late payment is usually sitting at the receiving bank. [How to track a SWIFT payment](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/track-a-swift-payment) explains what to ask for.

## United States: ACH, Fedwire and FedNow

| US figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 35.19 billion payments, $93.00 trillion | ACH network volume and value, 2025 | Nacha |
| About 80% | ACH payments that settle in one banking day or less | Nacha |
| 217.3 million transfers, about $1.15 quadrillion | Fedwire Funds Service volume and value, 2025, an average of $5.28 million each | Federal Reserve Financial Services |
| $1 million, rising to $10 million on 17 September 2027 | Same Day ACH limit per payment | Nacha |
| $10 million | FedNow maximum per payment, since November 2025; banks can set lower limits | Federal Reserve Financial Services |

[ACH vs Fedwire vs FedNow](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/ach-vs-fedwire-vs-fednow) compares the three rails.

## United Kingdom: Faster Payments, CHAPS and Bacs

| UK figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 5.55 billion payments, £4.84 trillion | Faster Payments volume and value, 2025 | Pay.UK |
| 53.3 million payments, £93.9 trillion | CHAPS volume and value, 2025 | Bank of England |
| 6.86 billion payments, £6.05 trillion | Bacs volume and value, 2025, of which 5 billion were Direct Debits | Pay.UK |
| £1 million | Faster Payments scheme limit per payment, since February 2022; banks set lower limits | Pay.UK |
| More than 2 million a day | Confirmation of Payee checks, by over 300 organizations | Pay.UK |

[UK payment rails](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/uk-payment-rails-faster-payments-chaps-bacs) covers cut-offs, limits and Confirmation of Payee.

## Stablecoins

| Network | USDT supply, 22 October 2026 | USDC supply, 22 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Tron | $92.6 billion | None listed |
| Ethereum | $73.0 billion | $44.8 billion |
| BNB Chain | $9.2 billion | $1.6 billion |
| Solana | $2.7 billion | $7.1 billion |
| Base | Not listed | $4.3 billion |
| Arbitrum | $798 million | $2.2 billion |
| Polygon | $710 million | $1.6 billion |

The supply figures are DefiLlama's. Other figures:

- **About $183 billion** of USDT in circulation in October 2026, the largest stablecoin (DefiLlama).
- **$136 billion** of stablecoin payments settled between January 2023 and August 2025 by the firms Artemis studied. USDT carried about 85% of that volume, and Tron was the most used network, followed by Ethereum (Artemis, October 2025).
- **More than $4.4 billion** of USDT frozen by Tether in total, as of April 2026, working with more than 340 law enforcement agencies in 65 countries (Tether).
- **$1.26 billion** of USDT frozen across 4,163 addresses in 2025, most of it on Tron (BlockSec).

[Which network to use for USDT and USDC](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/which-network-for-usdt-usdc-payments) puts the supply next to each network's finality, and the [stablecoin fee tracker](https://alignlabs.dev/tools/stablecoin-fees) shows what one transfer costs right now.

## Sources

- Swift, [How long does a Swift payment take?](https://www.swift.com/payments/how-long-does-swift-payment-take) and [Swift GPI](https://www.swift.com/products/swift-gpi) (accessed October 2026), [Data shows focus needed on beneficiary leg](https://www.swift.com/news-events/news/swift-data-shows-focus-needed-beneficiary-leg-faster-international-payments) (October 2024) and [Global financial community completes switch to ISO 20022](https://www.swift.com/news-events/press-releases/global-financial-community-completes-switch-iso-20022-paving-way-new-levels-cross-border-payment-speed-and-innovation-around-world) (November 2025)
- Federal Reserve, [A decade of U.S. cross-border payments efforts](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/a-decade-of-u-s-cross-border-payments-efforts-20260826.html) (August 2026)
- Nacha, [How ACH payments work](https://www.nacha.org/content/how-ach-payments-work), [ACH Network volume and value statistics](https://www.nacha.org/content/ach-network-volume-and-value-statistics) and [Same Day ACH per-payment limit to increase to $10 million](https://www.nacha.org/news/same-day-ach-payment-limit-increase-10-million) (accessed October 2026)
- Federal Reserve Financial Services, [Fedwire annual statistics](https://frbservices.org/resources/financial-services/wires/volume-value-stats/annual-stats.html) and [FedNow Service will raise transaction limit to $10 million](https://www.frbservices.org/news/press-releases/090525-fednow-transaction-limit-increase/) (accessed October 2026)
- Pay.UK, [Annual report and financial statements 2025](https://www.wearepay.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2025-Pay.UK-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements.pdf) (July 2026), [Bacs Payment System](https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/payment-systems/bacs-payment-system/), [£1 million Faster Payments now possible](https://newseventsinsights.wearepay.uk/media-centre/press-releases/1-million-faster-payments-now-possible/) (February 2022) and [Confirmation of Payee](https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/overlay-services/confirmation-of-payee/) (accessed October 2026)
- Bank of England, [Payment and settlement statistics](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/payments/payment-and-settlement-statistics) (updated 13 October 2026)
- DefiLlama, [Stablecoins](https://defillama.com/stablecoins), [Tether](https://defillama.com/stablecoin/tether) and [USD Coin](https://defillama.com/stablecoin/usd-coin) (20 and 22 October 2026)
- Artemis, [Stablecoin payments from the ground up](https://reports.artemisanalytics.com/stablecoins/artemis-stablecoin-payments-from-the-ground-up-2025.pdf) (October 2025)
- Tether, [Freeze of more than $344 million in coordination with OFAC](https://tether.io/news/tether-supports-freeze-of-more-than-344-million-in-usdt-in-coordination-with-ofac-and-u-s-law-enforcement/) (23 April 2026)
- BlockSec, [$1.26 billion of USDT frozen in 2025](https://blocksec.com/blog/1-26-billion-frozen-usdt-blacklisting-on-ethereum-and-tron-in-2025)

## Common questions

### How fast are international payments in 2026?

On Swift, 75% of payments reach the beneficiary's bank within 10 minutes and over 90% within an hour, Swift says. The delay is mostly the last step: in October 2024, Swift's data showed 43% of payments credited to the end customer within an hour, and Swift says that final leg takes over 80% of the total time.

### How many payments go through ACH each year?

35.19 billion payments worth $93.00 trillion in 2025, according to Nacha, which runs the network's rules. Nacha estimates that about 80% of ACH payments settle in one banking day or less.

### How much USDT and USDC is there, and on which networks?

About $183 billion of USDT in October 2026, with $92.6 billion on Tron and $73.0 billion on Ethereum on 22 October, according to DefiLlama. USDC sat mostly on Ethereum ($44.8 billion), then Solana ($7.1 billion) and Base ($4.3 billion).

### Can I use these figures?

Yes. Cite the original source linked in each row, with its date, and link to this page if it helped. We update the page when the sources publish new figures.

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This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and providers' terms change; check the sources linked above and take advice on your own situation.

## Related guides

- [How to track a SWIFT payment and find out why it's late](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/track-a-swift-payment)
- [ACH vs wire (Fedwire) vs FedNow: which US payment rail to use](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/ach-vs-fedwire-vs-fednow)
- [UK payment rails for businesses: Faster Payments, CHAPS, Bacs and Confirmation of Payee](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/uk-payment-rails-faster-payments-chaps-bacs)
- [Tron, Ethereum, Solana or Base: which network to use for USDT and USDC payments](https://alignlabs.dev/guides/which-network-for-usdt-usdc-payments)