In a FEDS Note, the Federal Reserve Board assessed US and North American cross-border payment performance against the G20 targets for cost, speed, transparency and access. North America leads other regions in wholesale payment speed, while US remittances generally outperform global averages on cost and speed. However, several retail and remittance measures remain short of the targets, and retail business-to-business, business-to-person and person-to-person payments from North America generally cost more than the global average. In 2025, 73.1 percent of wholesale cross-border payments received in North America arrived within one hour and almost all within one day. The average cost of sending USD 200 from the United States was 5.6 percent, but the average among the three cheapest qualifying services was 2.8 percent, below the 3 percent remittance target. For speed, 61.4 percent of US-sent remittances arrived within one hour and 79.5 percent within one day, compared with targets of 75 percent and 100 percent, respectively. North America has improved retail payment transparency and reduced the share of retail corridors costing more than 3 percent from 36.1 percent in 2023 to 30.3 percent in 2025. The note also reviewed US payment infrastructure and regulatory developments that could support further progress. These include Fedwire's July 2025 migration to ISO 20022, the approved expansion of Fedwire and National Settlement Service operating hours, and proposed Regulation J changes that would permit banks to use FedNow for cross-border transactions. Feedback on the FedNow proposal is being evaluated.
2026-08-26Federal Reserve Board
Federal Reserve Board assesses mixed US progress toward G20 cross-border payments targets
The Federal Reserve Board found that US and North American cross-border payments outperform global averages in several areas, including wholesale speed and remittance cost and speed, but still miss key G20 targets. Retail costs remain comparatively high, while transparency has improved. The Board is evaluating feedback on proposed changes that would allow banks to use FedNow for cross-border transactions.