Method, sources and corrections

The rule for a finding

A pattern becomes a finding only when a second, independent data series agrees with it. Until then it is a lead and is not published as a story.

Evidence grades

A: the same definition across economies, from one international source. B: a proxy, a derived estimate or a single national release. C: national data with no cross-country equivalent. Every chart states its grade, and grade B entries are marked in amber.

Sources for the real-time payments chapter

Instant payments: BIS CPMI cashless payments statistics, dataset WS_CPMI_CASHLESS, series key A.[country].N.A.A.Z.Z.A.A.A.F.A (fast payments, including on-us transactions where reported). The UK and the US do not report that series, so their counts come from WS_CPMI_SYSTEMS (Faster Payments Service; RTP plus FedNow).

Cashless total: A.[country].N.A.A.Z.Z.A.A.Z.A.A. Card and e-money payments: A.[country].N.F.A.A.I.A.A.Z.A.A, with debit (D) and credit (F) card functions. Cash withdrawals: A.[country].N.M.D.I.I.O.A.A.A.A. Population: World Bank SP.POP.TOTL. All accessed 27 October 2026.

Thailand is outside BIS coverage. Its 2023 figure is 54.5 million PromptPay transfers a day, as reported from the Bank of Thailand, multiplied by 365 (grade B).

Known limits

China's fast payment series covers only IBPS; the Alipay and WeChat Pay networks settle elsewhere. Japan's Zengin series includes all interbank credit transfers. The BIS systems table counts only interbank settlement, so Pix appears there at 56.3 billion for 2024 against 63.4 billion including on-us transactions.

Corrections log

28 October 2026: first release of the real-time payments chapter. No corrections yet.