Fed Sets Sights on Near-Continuous Fedwire Settlement by 2029

The Federal Reserve is closing the gap between business hours and real-time money movement. It will just take a while to get it done.

The central bank said that it would expand the Fedwire Funds Service and the National Settlement Service (NSS) to operate 22 hours per day, six days a week, running Sunday through Friday and including weekday holidays.

The expansion — known internally as “22×6” — is expected to launch in 2028 or 2029, giving financial institutions and processors time to adapt systems and liquidity management practices.

Fedwire is the Federal Reserve’s large-value real-time gross settlement rail, used directly by banks, credit unions and other depository institutions that maintain reserve accounts at the Federal Reserve.

It underpins interbank settlements, corporate payments, and large-value transfers, serving as the system banks depend on to move funds between one another and on behalf of their customers. Transactions can reach nearly $10 billion per payment, with an average value of $5.4 million in 2024, per Fed data. Fedwire also plays a crucial role in liquidity management, supporting end-of-day funding and settlement for other networks such as ACH, CHIPS and card systems.

NSS complements Fedwire by providing multilateral net settlement for private-sector clearing systems. Together, the two services form the backbone of wholesale payments and help maintain confidence in the broader U.S. financial system.

They coexist with FedNow, the Federal Reserve’s 24×7×365 instant-payments rail designed for lower-value consumer and business transactions. While both settle in real time and in central-bank money, Fedwire supports wholesale and financial-market activity, including interbank funding, securities, and large-value corporate payments, whereas FedNow targets end-to-end immediacy for retail and business use cases.

The board chose the 22×6 model as a measured interim step toward continuous operations, balancing those interests and providing a 26-hour weekend downtime window for maintenance and testing.

Recent PYMNTS Intelligence data underscores why expanding settlement availability and speeding the flow of funds matters. Ninety-three percent of banks offering instant payments say it improves customer retention, according to “Pivotal Moment: Banks’ Real-Time Payments Opportunity in 2025.” Eight in ten financial institutions that provide real-time options report a positive impact on customer relationships, particularly among small and midsize banks.

Sixty-two percent of U.S. banks are now connected to either the RTP® network, the FedNow® Service, or both, and 75% of mid-tier banks plan to connect to both networks within two years. These findings suggest that the banking sector is preparing for exactly the kind of extended settlement environment the Fed is now enabling.

The Fed’s notice emphasized that the expansion would bolster the U.S. dollar’s global role by overlapping Fedwire hours with RTGS systems in other jurisdictions, facilitating cross-border transactions on Sundays and U.S. holidays. Markets that operate Sunday through Thursday, particularly in the Middle East, could benefit from same-day U.S.-dollar settlement when Fedwire is open.

Domestically, expanded NSS hours mean private-sector clearinghouses could settle ACH and card-network obligations more frequently, accelerating payroll, merchant and insurance disbursements. The implementation schedule calls for industry testing through 2027, with full launch between 2028 and 2029. Once stabilized, the board could propose a further shift to 22×7×365 no earlier than two years after the initial rollout.

For banks and corporates, 22×6 operations could redefine cash flow management. Large-value real estate closings, commercial loan fundings and trade settlements that once waited until Monday could now occur on Sunday, reducing backlogs and improving liquidity efficiency.