Why did some instant payment systems become the main way to pay while others stayed a niche?
Instant payment systems grow where they become the cheapest way to pay a shop, and stay small while they remain a faster bank transfer. In 2024 Brazil recorded 299 instant payments per person and the United States recorded one, although both run modern systems.
300 bninstant payments measured across 19 economies in 2024
81%of them made in India and Brazil
299 vs 1instant payments per person, Brazil against the United States
85.5%of India's cashless transactions made by instant payment
27live cross-border links between instant and QR systems; none publishes usage
Brazil makes 299 instant payments a person a year and the United States makes one. The gap follows what a payment costs and where it is accepted at the shop counter.
Thirty entries: every live bilateral link by stage, type and direction, plus the multilateral projects, each with its source.
Watch item
Regulation (EU) 2024/886 required euro-area payment providers to receive instant payments from January 2025 and to send them from October 2025, at a price no higher than a standard credit transfer. The BIS statistics for 2025 will show whether a mandate on reach and price moves usage in Germany, France and Italy.
Data note
Counts come from the BIS CPMI cashless payments table (fast payments, including on-us transactions where reported) and from the BIS payment systems table for the UK and the US. Population is from the World Bank.
Systems Over Signals