AccelPIN and PINless debit network not affiliated with the global brands, widely used by US merchants for least-cost routing of e-commerce transactions since Regulation II was extended to card-not-present transactions in July 2023.Fiserv, Inc.
Global registry · North America · North America
United States Payment systems
110 systems listed.
CurrencyUS dollar (USD)
RegulatorFederal Reserve / OCC / CFPB
Leading payment methods
Credit cardsDebit cardsWalletsACH / ZelleBNPL
E-commerce shares
Cards · 47%Wallets · 39%Account-to-account · 6%Buy now, pay later · 6%Other · 2%
Cards + ACH + Zelle. The land of the rewards credit card (cash back, miles), funded by high interchange (about 2%). ACH carries payroll and bills ($86 trillion a year), and Zelle handles bank P2P (more than $1 trillion in 2024). FedNow (2023) is off to a slow start.
ACH volume≈$86T (2024, Nacha)
Zelle volume>$1T (2024, +27%)
Credit card interchange≈2% (funds rewards)
US wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal) are mostly tokenized cards: the underlying rail is still the card. Paper checks survive in B2B. The regulatory landscape is fragmented, with no equivalent of PSD2.
Learn about this market. The guides and courses that cover it.
Payments in the USUS debit and Durbin routingPayments in Oceania and CanadaPayment success rates and what drives themCross-border acquiring around the worldAgentic payments around the worldAccepting payments in the USOpening a new market: the payments playbookCollecting payments for the public sectorCollecting fares on public transitPayment methods around the worldRecurring payments and subscriptions, level 2
Card schemes
American ExpressThree-party model (issuer and acquirer at once), which keeps it outside the Durbin interchange cap (a cap that applies only to debit) and, for a long time, outside the routing rules. The OptBlue program delegates acquiring to third-party PSPs for small merchants, a distinctly US mechanism.American Express Company · since 1958
Diners Club InternationalThe world's oldest payment card. Now a Capital One asset, it operates mainly outside the US through franchisees, with cross-acceptance on the Discover network. Readers should know that Diners and Discover now share the same acceptance infrastructure.Capital One ((through Discover Financial Services), operated under national franchise licenses) · since 1950
Discover NetworkApart from American Express, the only remaining US card network that is both an issuer and a network operator. Capital One's $35.3 billion purchase gives a major issuer its own rail, the first vertical integration on this scale in decades. The key industry development is the migration itself: Capital One debit cards now run on Discover, and the credit portfolio is being moved over. That automatically takes volume away from Visa and Mastercard.Capital One Financial Corporation (since the acquisition of Discover Financial Services, completed on May 18, 2025) · since 1985About 25 million Capital One debit cards moved to the Discover network; the migration is complete, with a full quarter of debit revenue synergies in Q2 2026. Migration of the Discover credit portfolio began in late July 2026, with further waves in October 2026 and January 2027. Capital One targets $2.5 billion in merger synergies by mid-2027 (Capital One, Q2 2026 results).
InterlinkVisa's PIN debit brand in the US. Because it is affiliated with Visa, it cannot by itself meet the requirement for two unaffiliated networks on a Visa Debit card.Visa Inc. · since 1985
Maestro (US)Mastercard's PIN debit brand, still active in the US even though it was withdrawn for new cards in Europe in July 2023. This split in status by region regularly trips up international card programs.Mastercard Incorporated · since 1991
MastercardThe second US-born four-party scheme. It owns Maestro, which serves in the US as a domestic PIN debit network. Do not confuse this with European Maestro, withdrawn in Europe in 2023.Mastercard Incorporated (publicly traded, headquartered in Purchase, NY) · since 1966
NYCEA long-standing PIN debit network from the US Northeast that went national. It is often picked as the second Durbin network on cards co-badged with Visa or Mastercard.FIS (Fidelity National Information Services) · since 1985
PULSEEFT/PIN debit network backed by Discover. Because it is affiliated with Discover, it cannot serve as the “unaffiliated second network” required by Regulation II on a Discover card. That compliance nuance needs checking in any debit card program.Discover Financial Services (and therefore Capital One since May 2025) · since 1981
SHAZAMNetwork owned by its member institutions, mostly Midwest community banks. It shows that a regional cooperative model survived the Fiserv/FIS consolidation, and it is often the only second-network option for a small bank.ITS, Inc. (cooperative, Iowa) · since 1976
STAR NetworkOne of the largest PIN debit networks independent of the global brands. Together with Accel, it gives Fiserv a dual role as network operator and issuer processor, a competition issue any issuer should watch.Fiserv, Inc. · since 1984
Visa (Visa U.S.A. / Visa Inc.)Born in the US, Visa became the global benchmark scheme. In the US, its Interlink debit network and its Visa Debit offering are directly constrained by Regulation II: any US routing design must assume an unaffiliated second network.Visa Inc. (publicly traded company headquartered in San Francisco) · since 1958
Direct ExpressThe prepaid debit card through which the federal government pays benefits (Social Security retirement, disability benefits, veterans’ pensions) to recipients without a bank account. The federal counterpart of state EBT programs, and a cornerstone of the shift away from paper checks mandated by Executive Order 14247.Bureau of the Fiscal Service (US Treasury program run by a designated financial agent: Comerica Bank from the start, replaced by Fifth Third Bank, with cards being reissued in phases from 2026) · since 2008about 3.4 million cardholders (US Treasury / trade press, 2025)
CuliancePIN debit and surcharge-free ATM network for cards issued by US credit unions, with in-store and online acceptance. Usually missing from card overviews centered on Visa and Mastercard, it still matters in routing tables: it is one of the unaffiliated networks that let an issuer meet the dual-routing requirement. Participation varies by credit union, so acceptance cannot be assumed.FIS (network that grew out of the US credit union world, now operated by FIS and its subsidiaries)more than 80,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide and more than 2 million accepting points of sale (Culiance, website accessed August 2026)
Instant payments
clearXchangeDiscontinuedZelle’s direct predecessor, absorbed when Zelle launched in 2017. Older integration documentation and legal literature on liability for P2P fraud still cite it.Early Warning Services (originally a Bank of America / JPMorgan Chase / Wells Fargo JV) · since 2011
FedNow ServiceThe public answer to the de facto monopoly of the private RTP network, with a strong political argument: it is open to any institution eligible for Fed services, including small banks and credit unions. The six-figure average ticket shows that actual use is B2B and treasury, not P2P.Federal Reserve Banks · since 2023$853.4 billion in value in 2025, an average ticket of $101,435, about 30,000 transactions a day on average, and volume up 460% year over year; more than 1,600 participating institutions at the end of 2025 (FedNow Service Year in Review 2025, Federal Reserve)
RTP networkThe first entirely new payment rail in the US since 1974. The 5x jump in value in 2025 came from raising the per-transaction limit to $10 million: RTP captured large-value flows (real estate, treasury), not P2P.The Clearing House Payments Company (consortium of the largest banks) · since 2017More than $1.3 trillion in payments in 2025, up from $246 billion in 2024 (+428%); 107 million payments in Q2 2025 alone; a daily record of 1,808,967 transactions on October 3, 2025; about 98% of US interbank instant payments BY TRANSACTION COUNT according to the operator, but about 60% by value, given the $853.4 billion FedNow processed the same year (The Clearing House, 2025–2026; Federal Reserve, FedNow Service Year in Review 2025)
RTP (Real-Time Payments network)The first new US interbank rail in 40 years, built on ISO 20022, with its per-transaction limit raised to $10 million in 2025. It is the dominant US instant rail by value, far ahead of FedNow.The Clearing House · since 2017more than 1.5 million payments a day, with a single-day peak of 2.05 million in 2026; $1.3 trillion in payments in 2025; reaches about 75% of US bank accounts (The Clearing House, 2025–2026)
ZelleThe dominant bank-led P2P service in the US, offered exclusively in the apps of its roughly 2,200 member banks. It does not settle in real time on its own: it triggers a debit that settles over ACH or RTP depending on the bank, a critical distinction for payments leaders. It was the target of CFPB litigation in 2024–2025 over authorized push payment fraud.Early Warning Services (LLC (joint venture of seven large US banks)) · since 2017About $1 trillion sent in 2024 (+27% year over year) across 3.6 billion transactions (+25%); 151 million consumer and small business bank accounts enrolled, with small businesses accounting for more than 500 million transactions and $283 billion (Early Warning Services, February 2025 press release)
Clearing and settlement
ACH NetworkThe real engine of US payments by value: payroll, government benefits, direct debits, and B2B. Two competing operators under a single rulebook, a rare setup worldwide, not to be confused with Europe’s monopoly ACHs.Nacha / FedACH / EPN (rules set by Nacha, a private association; clearing operated by FedACH (Federal Reserve) and EPN (The Clearing House)) · since 197235.2 billion payments worth $93 trillion in 2025 (+4.9% by volume, +7.9% by value); 33.6 billion worth $86.2 trillion in 2024; monthly record of 3.22 billion payments in December 2025 (Nacha, 2026)
Check 21 / check image exchange (FedForward, FedReceipt)The US, along with Canada, remains one of the few developed countries where checks have legal weight and significant residual volume. Check 21 digitized presentment (the substitute check) without killing the instrument, a constant pain point for any US treasury software vendor.Federal Reserve Banks (as well as private clearing houses) · since 2004
DwollaProvider of API access to ACH, Same Day ACH, RTP, and FedNow for nonbank businesses. Typical of the “payments-as-a-service” layer that hides the patchwork of US rails behind a single interface.Dwolla, Inc. · since 2010
EPN (Electronic Payments Network)The only private ACH operator in the US. Its coexistence with FedACH is why the Nacha rules are written to be operator-agnostic, a key point for any ACH file originator.The Clearing House Payments Company · since 1975
FedACHOne of the two ACH operators, and the only one that reaches every US depository institution, which makes it the operator of last resort for any inter-operator exchange.Federal Reserve Banks · since 1972
Same Day ACHACH’s incremental answer to instant payments: three same-day settlement windows, with the per-transaction limit raised to $1 million in 2022. It is growing faster than standard ACH and absorbs some of the demand that FedNow and RTP were targeting.Nacha / FedACH / EPN (Nacha sets the rules; FedACH and EPN handle processing) · since 20161.4 billion payments worth $3.9 trillion in 2025; 1.2 billion worth $3.2 trillion in 2024; monthly record of 172.1 million payments in December 2025 (Nacha, 2026)
Trustly (Pay by Bank in the US)The leading US pay-by-bank provider: ACH debits initiated at checkout with real-time balance verification. Positioned as an alternative that avoids interchange for large billers and online gaming operators.Trustly AB (Swedish origin; US operations through the acquisition of PayWithMyBank) · since 2019
ACI SpeedpayBill payment platform for billers (utilities, healthcare, insurance, mortgage lenders, local governments): it collects by card, ACH debit, wallet, or phone and remits the funds to the biller. A structural segment of the US landscape, where consumers pay bills through an intermediary rather than under a direct debit mandate as in Europe.ACI Worldwide, Inc. (business acquired from Western Union in 2019 for $750 million; ACI Worldwide is Nasdaq-listed and based in Elkhorn, Nebraska)
CheckFreePayCash bill payment at the counter: consumers pay their electricity, rent, or credit card bill at a grocery or convenience store, and the biller is credited electronically. The largest US network of its kind, and a blind spot for any overview that looks only at digital rails, even though this is where unbanked households pay.Fiserv, Inc. (descended from CheckFree, acquired by Fiserv in 2007; network expanded in 2025 through a partnership with Blackhawk Network)57 million transactions processed in 2023 at more than 30,000 retail locations (Fiserv)
doxoConsumer bill aggregator that lets users pay any biller from a single interface, including billers it has no agreement with, in which case it sends a payment on the customer’s behalf. That model, which does not require biller consent, is exactly what drew FTC action: treat it as a rail whose legal status is not yet settled.doxo Inc. (Seattle company founded in 2008; sued by the FTC in April 2024 over deceptive advertising and hidden fees, with the case still pending) · since 2008more than 11 million users reported (doxo, cited in the FTC case, 2024)
Wallets
Amazon PayA checkout wallet for use beyond Amazon that monetizes the addresses and stored cards of Amazon’s customer base. Low-profile but structurally important for mid-market US merchants.Amazon.com, Inc. · since 2007
Apple CashNot to be confused with Apple Pay: this is a stored-value balance inside iMessage, backed by a partner bank, with a proprietary P2P rail. Funds are withdrawn to a bank account via ACH or push-to-card.Apple Inc. (with Green Dot Bank as issuer of the funds) · since 2017
Apple PayA pass-through tokenization wallet: it holds no account and only replaces the underlying card with a DPAN. The opening of the NFC chip to third parties (2024 EU antitrust commitments, US pressure) is gradually changing the equation for issuers.Apple Inc. · since 2014
Zelle standalone appDiscontinuedDiscontinued on April 1, 2025. Worth knowing because much documentation and many integrations still reference it: since then, Zelle is available only through the customer’s bank app or website. There is no direct consumer API.Early Warning Services · since 2017Fewer than 2% of Zelle users used the standalone app (Early Warning Services, 2025)
Cash AppThe closest US equivalent to a super-app: P2P, the Cash Card debit card, stock trading, bitcoin, direct deposit, and lending. It has a strong base among underbanked consumers, a segment neither Zelle nor the big banks reach.Block, Inc. (formerly Square) · since 2013
Click to Pay (EMVCo Secure Remote Commerce)The card networks’ attempt to create an interoperable, password-free card checkout to replace their proprietary wallets. Each network runs its own instance: Click to Pay is not a single system but a shared interface standard.EMVCo specification (implemented separately by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover) · since 2019
CurrentC / MCX (Merchant Customer Exchange)DiscontinuedAn ACH-based QR wallet that merchants designed to bypass card interchange. Its pilot shut down in June 2016, and MCX sold its technology to JPMorgan Chase in 2017. A formative episode: it explains large US retailers’ lasting distrust of the card networks and their continued lobbying for routing choice (Credit Card Competition Act).Consortium of large US retailers (Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and others) · since 2012
Google Wallet (formerly Google Pay and Android Pay)An unusually unstable brand history, with four name changes in 10 years. Google shut down the standalone Google Pay app in the US in 2024 in favor of Google Wallet, so treat any documentation from before 2024 as outdated.Google LLC · since 2011
MasterpassDiscontinuedMastercard’s counterpart to Visa Checkout, also folded into Click to Pay. Its demise, like Visa Checkout’s, marks the end of proprietary scheme wallets in favor of a common standard.Mastercard Incorporated · since 2013
PayPalThe original e-commerce wallet and still the leading alternative payment button in the US. Its model is hybrid: an e-money account, ACH pulls, and a card overlay. It has issued its own stablecoin (PYUSD) since 2023.PayPal Holdings, Inc. · since 1998
PazeUS banks’ attempt to take back control of online checkout from Apple Pay and PayPal by automatically provisioning cards without customer enrollment. The gap between eligible cards and actual usage is huge, so judge it by merchant adoption, not by card count.Early Warning Services, LLC · since 2023More than 165 million eligible cards announced, rising to more than 200 million in 2026; 9 issuers (Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Elan, PNC, Truist, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo). The operator acknowledges that merchant adoption is slow (Early Warning Services / Payments Dive, 2025–2026)
Samsung Wallet (formerly Samsung Pay)The only wallet to have deployed MST technology (magnetic stripe emulation, acquired with LoopPay), which enabled payments on non-NFC terminals. The feature has been dropped from recent models, and with it the main differentiator.Samsung Electronics · since 2015
Softcard (formerly Isis Mobile Wallet)DiscontinuedNFC wallet built on the SIM card’s secure element, shut down in 2015 with its assets sold to Google. A textbook failure of the “carrier controls the wallet” model against Apple’s and Google’s vertical integration.Joint venture of AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile US · since 2013
VenmoThe go-to non-bank P2P app for Americans under 40, with a social layer (an activity feed) no rival matches. A private-sector counterweight to Zelle, now accepted at merchant checkout.PayPal Holdings, Inc. · since 2009
Visa CheckoutDiscontinuedMigrated to Click to Pay and retired around 2020–2021. Many e-commerce plugins and outdated integration guides still reference it; integrators who come across it should switch to Click to Pay.Visa Inc. · since 2013
Chase PayDiscontinuedA bank wallet launched to take on Apple Pay, drawing on the MCX merchant consortium. The app shut down in February 2020, and it was fully removed from merchant sites and apps by March 2021: fewer than 1% of online merchants accepted it. An instructive failure that belongs on the same list as Softcard, CurrentC, Visa Checkout, and Masterpass.JPMorgan Chase & Co. · since 2015
Walmart PayIn-store payment by scanning a QR code shown at the register with the retailer’s app, charged to cards already on file. It is the merchant camp’s survivor after CurrentC failed: it never tried to build a new rail, only to keep the customer relationship and purchase data on top of existing cards.Walmart Inc. (a feature built into the Walmart app, with no standalone app) · since 2015
Starbucks CardThe largest closed-loop prepaid program in US retail. Customers keep close to $2 billion parked in it, interest-free deposits held without a banking license, and it is often cited as the textbook case of merchant float. It bypasses the card networks entirely on the final purchase: cards are used only to reload it.Starbucks Corporation (a closed-loop prepaid program tied to Starbucks Rewards and mobile ordering)about $1.9 billion in customer balances stored on cards and in the app (Starbucks, fiscal 2025)
Chipper CashCross-border wallet for person-to-person transfers within Africa and to the US, plus virtual cards and stock trading. Two corrections to the original entry: the operator is not “Chipper Cash Inc.” but Critical Ideas, Inc., and Kenya is no longer among the six countries it says it serves. User figures remain self-reported and unaudited.Critical Ideas, Inc. (company operating the Chipper Cash brand; the US issuer registration (NMLS 2266748) is held by Voyse Technologies US, Inc.)More than 5 million users and more than 250,000 transactions a day claimed, and more than 1 million virtual Visa cards issued (chippercash.com, accessed August 2026)
Buy now, pay later
AffirmThe largest homegrown US BNPL provider, focused on higher order values and longer terms with disclosed interest, a very different model from interest-free “pay in 4.” It also leads in Canada after absorbing PayBright.Affirm Holdings, Inc. · since 2012
AfterpayInterest-free “pay in 4” model funded by merchant fees. Its integration into Cash App illustrates the convergence of wallets and BNPL typical of the US market.Block (Inc. (acquisition of Australia’s Afterpay completed in 2022)) · since 2018
Klarna (US)A foreign company that has become a major force in the US, where it operates without a local banking license. It belongs in any overview of US BNPL, even though it is not domestic.Klarna Group plc (UK parent company (registered in England and Wales under no. 14467769), listed on the NYSE as KLAR since September 10, 2025; the group’s banking license remains with its Swedish subsidiary Klarna Bank AB, and the US business operates without a local banking license.) · since 2015
PayPal Pay in 4 / PayPal CreditThe most widely distributed BNPL in the US, switched on within the existing PayPal button with no additional merchant integration. A decisive distribution advantage over pure-play BNPL providers.PayPal Holdings, Inc. · since 2020
SezzleA smaller US BNPL focused on independent merchants and a consumer subscription model (Sezzle Premium). It shows that US BNPL is not just Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna.Sezzle Inc. (Minneapolis) · since 2016
Zip (formerly Quadpay)One of the few US BNPL providers with a foreign parent listed outside the US. It pairs a four-installment model with a virtual card usable anywhere, which lets it bypass merchant integration. That makes it a blind spot for any inventory that counts only BNPL providers integrated at checkout.Zip Co Limited (Australian group listed on the ASX; the US business comes from the 2020 acquisition of Quadpay for A$403 million (about US$269 million), with the Quadpay brand merged into Zip) · since 20206.0 million active customers and A$10.1 billion in transaction volume in fiscal 2024, group-wide (Zip Co)
Bread FinancialA leading US issuer of private label store cards, with an installment payment offering (Bread Pay) at its merchants’ checkouts. Its economics are heavily exposed to late fees, and therefore squarely in the sights of regulatory caps. Comparing it to a pure-play BNPL provider would be an analytical mistake.Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (formerly Alliance Data Systems, renamed in March 2022 after the LoyaltyOne spin-off; issues through its bank subsidiaries Comenity Bank and Comenity Capital Bank)
UpliftDiscontinuedTravel BNPL: monthly payments for a flight, cruise, or vacation, offered at the checkout of airlines and travel companies (Southwest, United, Air Canada, Carnival, Wyndham). The Uplift brand has given way to Flex Pay at Upgrade, so a contract or integration that still names it refers to that product.Upgrade, Inc. (travel installment payment specialist, acquired by Upgrade in 2023; the brand has been folded into Flex Pay, and uplift.com now redirects there)
SunbitInstallment payments for services, not online retail: auto repair, dental, optical, and veterinary care, for amounts from $50 to $20,000 approved at the counter. E-commerce checkout BNPL does not cover this segment, and the customer’s real alternative is a revolving credit card or forgoing care.Sunbit Inc. (Los Angeles fintech founded in 2016; financing decisions are made on the spot by a statistical model, without a traditional credit file) · since 2016more than 30,000 partner service locations in 47 states (Sunbit, 2024)
KatapultLease-to-own financing at e-commerce checkout for customers who don’t qualify for credit: the lessor owns the goods until the customer exercises the purchase option. Legally it is not credit, so it falls outside the rules that govern pay-in-4 BNPL, a decisive distinction for a compliance lawyer.Katapult Holdings, Inc. (formerly Cognical Holdings, renamed in February 2020; listed on Nasdaq as KPLT; headquartered in Plano, Texas)
ZipAustralia’s second-largest installment payment provider after Afterpay, built on a point-of-sale credit model. Market overviews that still describe it as a Middle East player through Spotii are out of date: Zip now reports only Australia, New Zealand, and the US.Zip Co Limited (listed Australian company; its US operations are built on the business it acquired, which traded as Quadpay.) · since 2013
Acquiring and processing
Block (Square)The acquirer for very small US merchants, with flat-rate pricing that did away with the traditional merchant agreement for that segment. It sits in the same group as Cash App and Afterpay.Block, Inc. · since 2009
FIS (Fidelity National Information Services)The second-largest provider of US banking infrastructure and the owner of the NYCE network. FIS sold a majority stake in Worldpay to GTCR in 2024, then its remaining 45% stake in January 2026, exiting acquiring for good. In exchange, it took over Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions business (formerly TSYS) at an enterprise value of $13.5 billion. Any reference to “FIS/Worldpay” is therefore out of date: Worldpay has belonged to Global Payments since January 2026.FIS · since 1968
FiservFiserv combines core banking for a large share of US community banks, issuer processing, acquiring (Clover), two PIN debit networks (STAR, Accel), and an ATM network (MoneyPass). A systemic concentration point in US payments that is rarely recognized as such.Fiserv, Inc. · since 1984
StripeA PSP turned direct acquirer, dominant among SaaS platforms and marketplaces. It has brought issuing (Issuing), the merchant account (Treasury), and stablecoins in-house (the Bridge acquisition, announced in October 2024 and closed in February 2025), a vertical integration path worth watching.Stripe, Inc. · since 2010
Cross-border rails
CLS (CLS Bank International)PvP settlement that eliminates FX settlement risk (Herstatt risk) for 18 currencies, including USD, CAD, and MXN. It is a US legal entity supervised by the Fed: a lawyer working on North American multicurrency FX is within US regulatory scope, whatever the currency.CLS Bank International (Edge Act corporation, New York; designated a systemically important FMU by the FSOC) · since 2002
ConveraWorth mentioning because the literature still refers to “Western Union Business Solutions”: that B2B business was sold and renamed Convera in 2022. It specializes in international education and business payments.Convera Holdings (formerly Western Union Business Solutions, sold in 2022 to Goldfinch Partners and Baupost) · since 2022
Directo a MéxicoThe official ACH corridor from the US to Mexico, operated by the Federal Reserve Banks through FedGlobal and connected on the Mexican side to Banco de México’s SPEI. US financial institutions originate the payments, at a Banxico reference exchange rate and with very low fees. It is rarely mentioned, even though it is the institutional alternative to money transfer operators on the world’s largest remittance corridor. On November 25, 2025, Federal Reserve Financial Services announced that FedGlobal ACH Payments would be discontinued: transfers to Mexico will no longer be accepted after November 20, 2026.Federal Reserve Banks / Banco de México (via the FedGlobal service) · since 2003
FedGlobal ACH PaymentsExtension of US ACH to Canada, Mexico, Panama, and about 20 European countries, through gateways to local ACH systems. A low-cost rail that remains largely underused, overshadowed by money services businesses (MSBs) and cards.Federal Reserve Banks · since 2004
Intermex (International Money Express)Specialist in the US–Mexico/Guatemala corridor through an agent network. Its acquisition by Western Union consolidates US retail remittances to Latin America, a competition concern for regulators and for pricing on the corridors involved.International Money Express, Inc. · since 1994
Mastercard Move (formerly Mastercard Send)Mastercard’s equivalent of Visa Direct, extended beyond cards to bank accounts and wallets through the acquisition of Transfast. The rebrand is recent, so don’t mistake the two names for two separate products.Mastercard Incorporated · since 2016
MoneyGramThe second-largest US money transfer network. It has served as a testing ground for stablecoins as an agent-to-agent settlement rail, a development worth following for anyone in remittances.MoneyGram International (owned by Madison Dearborn Partners since 2023) · since 1940
PayoneerSpecialist in cross-border payouts to freelancers and marketplace sellers, through multicurrency receiving accounts. The dominant rail for marketplace payouts to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Eastern Europe.Payoneer Global Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYO) · since 2005
RemitlyDigital-native remittance company with a strong presence on the US-to-Mexico and US-to-Philippines corridors. It illustrates the market’s shift from physical agent locations to apps, with a lasting squeeze on margins.Remitly Global, Inc. (Seattle) · since 2011
Visa DirectPush-to-card rail that turns the card network into a near-instant transfer system addressed by PAN. It underpins most instant wallet withdrawals, gig economy payouts, and a growing share of remittances.Visa Inc. · since 2011
Western UnionThe world’s oldest money transfer network, still dominant in cash-to-cash. A key player on the US-to-Mexico corridor, where most recipients still collect cash.The Western Union Company · since 1871
XoomPayPal’s remittance arm, offered in the PayPal app. What makes it notable: PayPal added the option to send from a PYUSD balance, making it one of the first mass-market stablecoin-to-remittance bridges from a regulated company.PayPal Holdings · since 2001
Central bank digital currency
US retail CBDC (digital dollar)DiscontinuedRuled out politically, then banned by law: Executive Order 14178 of January 23, 2025, bars federal agencies from any action to establish, issue, or promote a CBDC. In June 2026, Congress passed a provision (21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Section 1101) prohibiting the Fed from issuing a digital asset that would be a direct liability of the Federal Reserve System widely available to the public. For the foreseeable future, the US is a country with no retail CBDC by law: the project is banned, not merely shelved.Federal Reserve (no issuance)
Project CedarDiscontinuedNew York Fed research on cross-border FX settlement on a distributed ledger. Explicitly presented as research with no policy commitment. A useful reminder that the US has no CBDC project, and that a January 2025 executive order even banned work on a retail one.New York Innovation Center (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) (phase II run jointly with MAS (Ubin+)) · since 2022
Project HamiltonDiscontinuedThe main US technical work on a retail CBDC, halted at the end of 2022 without moving to phase 2. Its open-source code remains an architecture reference, but it had no institutional follow-up.Federal Reserve Bank of Boston / MIT Digital Currency Initiative · since 2020
Stablecoins
BUSD (Binance USD)DiscontinuedThe NYDFS ordered Paxos to stop minting BUSD in February 2023. Technical documentation and legacy integrations still cite it widely, so integrators need to know the token is no longer issued or redeemed. It set a major regulatory precedent ahead of the GENIUS Act.Paxos Trust Company · since 2019Market capitalization peaked at about $23 billion in November 2022 and has since fallen to zero
Diem (formerly Libra)DiscontinuedMeta’s stablecoin project, wound down in early 2022, with its technology assets sold to Silvergate Bank. The announcement alone set off the worldwide wave of CBDC work. Readers should know it never went live.Diem Association (Meta/Facebook initiative) (Switzerland, then the US) · since 2019
PYUSD (PayPal USD)The first dollar-backed stablecoin issued on behalf of a major US payment company, under a New York State trust charter. It serves as a test bed for stablecoins as a merchant settlement rail, not just a crypto trading asset.Issued by Paxos Trust Company for PayPal · since 2023
RLUSD (Ripple USD)Stablecoin designed to serve as the settlement asset in Ripple Payments, partly replacing XRP as the bridge currency. Issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. Read it alongside the settlement of the Ripple–SEC case in August 2025 ($125 million penalty, appeals dropped), which removed the legal uncertainty over XRP in the US.Standard Custody & Trust Company (Ripple) (under an NYDFS trust charter) · since 2024Market capitalization of about $1.46 billion (CoinGecko, accessed late July 2026)
USDCThe benchmark dollar stablecoin for regulated and institutional use in North America, with reserves held in Treasuries and monthly attestations. It is increasingly used as a cross-border B2B settlement rail in place of correspondent banking.Circle Internet Financial · since 2018
USA₮ (USAT)Tether’s US-specific dollar stablecoin, launched on January 27, 2026, under the GENIUS Act and issued by a federally chartered crypto bank. Keep it strictly separate from the original USDT, which remains outside US jurisdiction: USAT is how Tether chose to operate in the US without bringing its global float onshore.Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. (federally licensed issuer, acting for Tether’s US arm; reserves managed with Cantor Fitzgerald) · since 2026
USD1Dollar stablecoin that its issuer describes as 100% backed by US dollar cash, US Treasury money market funds, and other cash equivalents, with monthly reserve attestations and a proof-of-reserves mechanism. Available on several blockchains. Listed here to keep the registry complete, with an explicit caveat on governance: the issuer has ties to US political circles, which has raised public questions about conflicts of interest. Its market capitalization could not be verified against a primary source and is therefore not given here.World Liberty Financial
Other
AllpointThe largest surcharge-free ATM network in the US, built on machines placed in major retail chains. A vital cash access rail for neobanks and prepaid programs that have no ATMs of their own.NCR Atleos · since 2002
Interchange framework: Durbin Amendment and Regulation II (12 CFR 235)The only statutory interchange cap in the US, and it applies only to debit: US credit is uncapped, which explains the gap in merchant costs compared with Europe. It also requires issuers to enable two unaffiliated networks on each card, a rule explicitly extended to card-not-present transactions in July 2023. The standard has been vacated since August 6, 2025, but the vacatur is stayed pending a decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. That stay alone keeps the cap of 21 cents plus 5 bp plus 1 cent in force in 2026: US debit is not deregulated.Federal Reserve Board (US Federal Reserve) · since 2011Current cap: 21 cents plus 5 basis points per transaction, plus a 1-cent fraud-prevention adjustment, for issuers with more than $10 billion in assets. An October 2023 proposal to lower it to 14.4 cents plus 4 bp has not been finalized. On August 6, 2025, the US District Court for the District of North Dakota (Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors) held that the Fed had exceeded its authority and vacated the interchange standard, but STAYED its own vacatur pending appeal to avoid a fully deregulated interchange market. The cap therefore still applies (D.N.D., 2025; appeal pending before the 8th Circuit, briefing completed in March 2026).
Interchange framework: MDL 1720 settlement (Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation)AnnouncedIn the US, the real lever on interchange is private antitrust litigation, not legislation. What matters most in the 2025 settlement is not the dollar amount but the planned end of the honor-all-cards rule: merchants could accept or decline cards by category (commercial cards, premium rewards cards, standard cards) and surcharge more freely. The major merchant trade groups oppose it, arguing that the concessions fall short.Visa (Mastercard and the defendant banks, under the supervision of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Judge Brian M. Cogan, who took over the case from Judge Margo K. Brodie)) · since 2025Settlement announced on November 10, 2025, with a stated value of about $38 billion: a 0.1-point interchange cut for five years and a 1.25% cap on standard consumer rates for eight years, a reduction of more than 25% (the settlement is contested: objections were filed on September 10 and 14, 2026, by Walmart, Circle K, NACS, and more than 900 merchants; final approval hearing before Judge Brian Cogan on November 16, 2026) (press releases and coverage, November 2025). Preliminary approval was granted on June 9, 2026, but final court approval is still pending; a previous settlement was rejected in 2024. Separately, the earlier damages settlement (about $5.54 billion, approved on December 13, 2019) is in its distribution phase, with a second distribution approved on June 15, 2026.
CHIPSA large-value USD net settlement system, migrated to ISO 20022 in April 2024. It is the private rail that settles most international dollar payments.The Clearing House · since 1970
CHIPS (Clearing House Interbank Payments System)The world’s largest private dollar clearing network and the de facto rail for cross-border USD correspondent payments. Continuous bilateral and multilateral netting saves a great deal of liquidity, unlike Fedwire, which settles gross. Together with Fedwire, it handles about 96% of large-value USD payments.The Clearing House Payments Company · since 1970$2.014 trillion settled per business day on average in 2025, up 9% in value and 12% in volume year over year (The Clearing House, CHIPS 2025 review, April 2026)
EBT / QUEST networkA nearly invisible but massive payment rail that delivers SNAP food benefits on a dedicated debit card, with its own acceptance, routing, and product eligibility rules. Every US grocery merchant has to certify it separately.State governments (overseen by the USDA (SNAP) and HHS (TANF); QUEST acceptance mark) · since 2004
Fedwire Funds ServiceThe dollar’s sovereign RTGS: final, irrevocable settlement in central bank money, with no credit risk. The big-bang ISO 20022 migration went through successfully on July 14, 2025. The proprietary FAIM format is dead, and every US integrator now has to speak pacs.008/pacs.009.Federal Reserve Banks · since 1918More than $4.7 trillion settled per business day on average (Federal Reserve Financial Services, 2025)
Fedwire Securities ServiceDepository and DVP settlement system for Treasuries and agency securities. It is a separate rail from Fedwire Funds but draws on the same reserve account, and professionals should not confuse the two.Federal Reserve Banks · since 1968
GENIUS Act (US federal framework for payment stablecoins)AnnouncedNot a payment system but the law that redraws the scope: full backing in dollars or low-risk liquid assets; explicit exclusion from the definitions of security and commodity (and so from SEC and CFTC jurisdiction); no federal deposit insurance; and no direct access to the Fed. Signed into law on July 18, 2025, the act does not yet apply. It takes effect on the earlier of two dates: 18 months after enactment (January 18, 2027) or 120 days after the federal banking regulators publish final rules. As of summer 2026, those rules were still at the proposal stage. Compare Titles III and IV of MiCA, which have applied in the EU since June 30, 2024.US Congress; overseen by the federal banking regulators and qualifying state regimes · since 2025
National Settlement Service (NSS)The invisible plumbing: it settles, in central bank money, the net balances of some 20 private arrangements (card networks, ATM networks, check clearinghouses, private ACH). Without NSS, CHIPS and EPN would have no final settlement.Federal Reserve Banks · since 1999
PayNearMeLets consumers pay a bill or fund an online account in cash at a partner retailer, using a barcode. An inclusion rail for unbanked Americans, functionally comparable to OXXO Pay in Mexico.PayNearMe, Inc. · since 2009
PlaidThe de facto infrastructure of US open banking before any regulation existed, first through screen scraping and later through APIs. Its position is directly at stake in the CFPB’s Section 1033 rule on access to financial data.Plaid Inc. · since 2013
STAROne of the main unaffiliated US PIN debit networks, used by issuers to comply with Durbin dual routing and by merchants to route transactions at lower cost. It benefited when dual routing was extended to card-not-present transactions in 2023.Fiserv
Velera (formerly CO-OP Solutions / CO-OP Network)Shared infrastructure that lets US credit unions offer an ATM network and shared branching comparable to those of large banks. Renamed Velera in 2024; older documents refer to CO-OP or PSCU.Velera (financial services cooperative formed by the merger of PSCU and CO-OP) · since 1981
Visa InterlinkVisa’s PIN debit network in the US. Because it is affiliated with Visa, it cannot on its own meet the Durbin Amendment requirement to offer two unaffiliated networks per card, so the issuer must add a third-party network (PULSE, STAR, NYCE, Accel). In a final rule issued in October 2022 and effective July 1, 2023, the Federal Reserve clarified that this dual-routing requirement also applies to card-not-present transactions, which reshaped US e-commerce routing.Visa · since 1985
The Depository Trust Company (DTC)The US central securities depository: it holds immobilized equities, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds, and it runs securities settlement. It is the private-sector counterpart of Fedwire Securities, which carries only government debt. Anyone who holds a US security ultimately holds it through DTC.The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (subsidiary of DTCC, which is owned by its members (banks, brokers, trading venues); designated a systemically important financial market utility (FMU) by the FSOC in 2012, supervised by the SEC) · since 1973more than $100 trillion in securities under custody, a threshold crossed in June 2025 (DTCC)
National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC)The central counterparty for US equities, ETFs, and corporate bonds: it novates trades, nets them multilaterally, and leaves only a net balance to settle at DTC. Its intraday margin call is what forced brokers to halt GameStop purchases in January 2021. Clearing is power, not just plumbing.The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (subsidiary of DTCC; designated a systemically important financial market utility (FMU) by the FSOC in 2012, supervised by the SEC) · since 1976
Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC)The central counterparty for US government debt and repo, in two divisions: Treasury securities and repo on one side, MBS on the other. Scaling it up is the market’s biggest infrastructure project of the 2020s, as the SEC phases in mandatory central clearing of Treasury cash and repo transactions.The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (subsidiary of DTCC, formed in 2003 through the merger of the Government Securities Clearing Corporation and the MBS Clearing Corporation; designated an FMU by the FSOC in 2012, supervised by the SEC) · since 2003more than $12 trillion cleared on an average day across all businesses, with a first day above $10 trillion in the Government Securities Division alone (DTCC, 2025)
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)The sole central counterparty for all listed equity options in the US: legally, a US listed option is a contract with OCC. It is a de facto monopoly, hence its designation as systemically important infrastructure. Not to be confused with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which uses the same acronym.The Options Clearing Corporation (owned by the US options exchanges it serves; designated an FMU by the FSOC in 2012, supervised by the SEC and registered with the CFTC) · since 1973then-record annual volume of 10.38 billion contracts cleared in 2022, an average of 41.3 million a day (OCC); since surpassed (12.2 billion in 2024)
ICE Clear Credit LLCThe central counterparty for US credit derivatives: index, single-name corporate, and sovereign CDS. It exists because the G20 decided after 2008 to push standardized CDS through central clearing, the institutional response to counterparty risk in over-the-counter markets.Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE group clearing house; designated an FMU by the FSOC in 2012, supervised by the CFTC) · since 2009
CME ClearingThe central counterparty for CME Group futures and options: interest rates, equities, FX, energy, and agriculture. Most US listed derivatives risk flows through it, and it is one of only two designated FMUs overseen by the CFTC, alongside ICE Clear Credit.Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME’s clearing division, part of CME Group; the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. entity is an FMU designated by the FSOC in 2012, supervised by the CFTC)
Executive Order 14247 · Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank AccountThe executive order that ends federal paper-check disbursements and receipts as of September 30, 2025, to the extent permitted by law: benefits, tax refunds, and vendor payments move to electronic channels, with limited exceptions. A major rail event for the US, the last large developed country still moving checks in bulk.presidential executive order of March 25, 2025; implemented by the Treasury Department (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) and the IRS, with a request for comment published in the Federal Register in 2025 · since 2025
Green DotFar more than a prepaid card issuer: it is a chartered bank that rents out its charter and cash deposit network to third-party programs such as Apple Cash, Walmart MoneyCard, Uber, and Intuit. A rail in its own right in the US landscape, and one of the few places where physical cash enters a digital account.Green Dot Corporation (NYSE-listed company, both a bank holding company (Green Dot Bank) and a technology platform; acts as issuer and partner bank for third-party programs) · since 1999cards sold at nearly 100,000 retail locations in the US (Green Dot Corporation)
MoneyPassSurcharge-free ATM network, often the default ATM network for card programs issued through Fiserv. A direct competitor to Allpoint: choosing one or the other is a key driver of the cost and coverage of a US account program, and one of the points where Fiserv’s systemic weight in domestic payments is concentrated.Fiserv, Inc.
Personal Financial Data Rights Rule (section 1033)Legal basis for the right to access account data in the US: the institution must make a customer’s data available, securely and reliably, to the customer and to the third parties the customer authorizes, with privacy safeguards imposed on those third parties. Compliance is phased in by institution size, and the framework may still change through rulemaking. A product roadmap that depends on it should plan for revisions rather than treat it as settled.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB recognized Financial Data Exchange (FDX) as a standard-setting body authorized to publish the framework’s API standards) · since 2024final rule issued October 22, 2024, published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2024, and effective January 17, 2025; FDX recognized as a standard-setting body on January 8, 2025 (CFPB)