{
  "data_version": "seed-0.1 · 2026-08-28",
  "source": "https://banking.foundation",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "disclaimer": "Approximate reference data; not real-time; not legal or investment advice.",
  "collection": "payment-networks",
  "count": 16,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "visa",
      "name": "Visa",
      "type": "Card scheme",
      "operator": "Visa Inc.",
      "region": "Global",
      "currency": "Multi",
      "launched": 1958,
      "settlement": "deferred net",
      "website": "https://www.visa.com",
      "description": "Global card payment network connecting issuing and acquiring banks with merchants in more than 200 countries and territories. Originated as Bank of America's BankAmericard program in 1958 and was renamed Visa in 1976."
    },
    {
      "id": "mastercard",
      "name": "Mastercard",
      "type": "Card scheme",
      "operator": "Mastercard Inc.",
      "region": "Global",
      "currency": "Multi",
      "launched": 1966,
      "settlement": "deferred net",
      "website": "https://www.mastercard.com",
      "description": "Global card payment network founded in 1966 as the Interbank Card Association (later Master Charge). Routes authorization, clearing and settlement between issuers and acquirers worldwide."
    },
    {
      "id": "unionpay",
      "name": "UnionPay",
      "type": "Card scheme",
      "operator": "China UnionPay Co., Ltd.",
      "region": "China",
      "currency": "Multi",
      "launched": 2002,
      "settlement": "deferred net",
      "website": "https://www.unionpayintl.com",
      "description": "Chinese bank card scheme founded in Shanghai in 2002, the world's largest card network by cards issued. Its international arm, UnionPay International, extends acceptance to merchants and ATMs in most countries."
    },
    {
      "id": "american-express",
      "name": "American Express",
      "type": "Card scheme",
      "operator": "American Express Company",
      "region": "Global",
      "currency": "Multi",
      "launched": 1958,
      "settlement": "deferred net",
      "website": "https://www.americanexpress.com",
      "description": "Global card network that, unlike Visa and Mastercard, largely issues cards and acquires merchants itself (a closed-loop model). The company dates to 1850; its charge card business launched in 1958."
    },
    {
      "id": "swift",
      "name": "SWIFT",
      "type": "Financial messaging",
      "operator": "Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT SC)",
      "region": "Global",
      "currency": "Multi",
      "launched": 1973,
      "settlement": "messaging only; no settlement",
      "website": "https://www.swift.com",
      "description": "Belgium-based member-owned cooperative providing the standardized secure messaging network used by banks worldwide for payment instructions, including cross-border transfers. Founded in 1973, it carries messages but does not hold funds or settle payments."
    },
    {
      "id": "sepa-instant-credit-transfer",
      "name": "SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst)",
      "type": "Instant payments",
      "operator": "European Payments Council (scheme owner)",
      "region": "Europe (SEPA)",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "launched": 2017,
      "settlement": "instant, 24/7",
      "website": "https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu",
      "description": "Pan-European scheme for euro credit transfers that credits the beneficiary within seconds, around the clock. Launched in November 2017 and processed over multiple clearing infrastructures, including the Eurosystem's TIPS."
    },
    {
      "id": "target2-t2",
      "name": "TARGET2 / T2",
      "type": "RTGS",
      "operator": "Eurosystem (ECB and euro-area national central banks)",
      "region": "Eurozone",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "launched": 2007,
      "settlement": "real-time gross",
      "website": "https://www.ecb.europa.eu",
      "description": "The Eurosystem's large-value payment system, settling euro payments one by one in central bank money. TARGET2 went live in 2007, succeeding the original TARGET system, and was replaced by the consolidated T2 platform in March 2023."
    },
    {
      "id": "fedwire",
      "name": "Fedwire Funds Service",
      "type": "RTGS",
      "operator": "Federal Reserve Banks",
      "region": "United States",
      "currency": "USD",
      "launched": 1918,
      "settlement": "real-time gross",
      "website": "https://www.frbservices.org",
      "description": "The Federal Reserve's real-time gross settlement system for large-value US dollar transfers between account-holding institutions, with immediate finality in central bank money. Its origins trace to the Fed's telegraph-based transfer network of 1918."
    },
    {
      "id": "fednow",
      "name": "FedNow Service",
      "type": "Instant payments",
      "operator": "Federal Reserve Banks",
      "region": "United States",
      "currency": "USD",
      "launched": 2023,
      "settlement": "instant, 24/7 gross",
      "website": "https://www.frbservices.org",
      "description": "The Federal Reserve's instant payment service, launched in July 2023, enabling participating banks and credit unions to send and receive payments with final settlement in central bank money around the clock."
    },
    {
      "id": "chips",
      "name": "CHIPS",
      "type": "Cross-border clearing",
      "operator": "The Clearing House",
      "region": "United States",
      "currency": "USD",
      "launched": 1970,
      "settlement": "prefunded continuous net, intraday finality",
      "website": "https://www.theclearinghouse.org",
      "description": "The Clearing House Interbank Payments System, a private-sector large-value US dollar system launched in 1970 that clears and settles a large share of cross-border USD payments. Uses continuous multilateral netting against prefunded balances with intraday finality."
    },
    {
      "id": "ach-nacha",
      "name": "ACH Network (Nacha)",
      "type": "ACH / clearing",
      "operator": "Nacha (rules); Federal Reserve and The Clearing House (network operators)",
      "region": "United States",
      "currency": "USD",
      "launched": 1974,
      "settlement": "batch, deferred net",
      "website": "https://www.nacha.org",
      "description": "The US automated clearing house network for batch-processed credits and debits such as payroll, bills and direct deposits, governed by Nacha rules since 1974. Same Day ACH windows were added in 2016 alongside standard next-day settlement."
    },
    {
      "id": "uk-faster-payments",
      "name": "Faster Payments System",
      "type": "Instant payments",
      "operator": "Pay.UK",
      "region": "United Kingdom",
      "currency": "GBP",
      "launched": 2008,
      "settlement": "instant credit; deferred net interbank",
      "website": "https://www.wearepay.uk",
      "description": "The UK's real-time retail payment system, launched in 2008, crediting recipients in seconds around the clock. Funds move instantly for customers while participating banks settle net across accounts at the Bank of England several times each business day."
    },
    {
      "id": "upi",
      "name": "Unified Payments Interface (UPI)",
      "type": "Instant payments",
      "operator": "National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)",
      "region": "India",
      "currency": "INR",
      "launched": 2016,
      "settlement": "instant, 24/7 (deferred net interbank)",
      "website": "https://www.npci.org.in",
      "description": "India's real-time account-to-account payment system, launched by NPCI in 2016, using virtual payment addresses and QR codes through bank and third-party apps. One of the world's highest-volume retail payment systems, processing billions of transactions per month."
    },
    {
      "id": "pix",
      "name": "Pix",
      "type": "Instant payments",
      "operator": "Banco Central do Brasil",
      "region": "Brazil",
      "currency": "BRL",
      "launched": 2020,
      "settlement": "instant, 24/7 gross",
      "website": "https://www.bcb.gov.br",
      "description": "Brazil's instant payment scheme, launched by the central bank in November 2020, transferring funds between accounts in seconds at any time via keys such as phone numbers and QR codes. Adoption has been rapid, making it Brazil's dominant retail payment method."
    },
    {
      "id": "cips",
      "name": "CIPS",
      "type": "Cross-border clearing",
      "operator": "Cross-Border Interbank Payment System Co., Ltd. (overseen by the People's Bank of China)",
      "region": "China",
      "currency": "CNY",
      "launched": 2015,
      "settlement": "real-time gross (net modes also offered)",
      "website": "https://www.cips.com.cn",
      "description": "China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, launched in 2015 in Shanghai to clear and settle cross-border renminbi payments. Connects direct and indirect participants worldwide and commonly interoperates with SWIFT messaging."
    },
    {
      "id": "zelle",
      "name": "Zelle",
      "type": "Wallet / A2A scheme",
      "operator": "Early Warning Services, LLC",
      "region": "United States",
      "currency": "USD",
      "launched": 2017,
      "settlement": "funds available in minutes; deferred interbank settlement",
      "website": "https://www.zellepay.com",
      "description": "US bank-to-bank person-to-person payment scheme launched in 2017 and operated by Early Warning Services, a company owned by a group of large US banks. Payments are addressed by email or phone number and are typically available to recipients within minutes, embedded directly in participating banks' apps."
    }
  ]
}