SWIFT FIN (and pacs over MX) is a 24/7 messaging service. The settlement systems behind it — Fedwire, T2, CHAPS, BOJ-NET, SIC — are not. Send a wire over a weekend and you create an artificial 2-3 day delay.
A USD wire instructed Friday after Fedwire close (19:00 ET) cannot settle until Monday morning. The MT103 sits at the originating bank or at the US correspondent in a queued state.
A EUR wire instructed late Friday similarly waits for T2 opening Monday. SCT Inst is the exception — it settles in seconds 24/7 — but it is intra-EUR only and capped at 100,000 EUR per transaction (raised from 15K in 2025).
Public holidays in the destination country pause settlement even on weekdays. Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day stop most major RTGS. Eid al-Fitr stops GCC and many MENA RTGS. Chinese New Year stops CIPS for a full week.
For sender, holiday in the destination country matters but home-country holiday usually does not — your bank still accepts the instruction and will dispatch on the destination next business day.
For GBP: Scottish-only public holidays do not stop CHAPS (it is England/Wales calendar). For USD: federal holidays stop Fedwire; state holidays do not.
Tracking: GPI status shows the wire as ACSP at the originating bank with a "pending settlement" note. On Monday, settlement runs and status advances normally.
For specific corridors: SCT Inst within EUR; FedNow within USD (domestic only); UPI within India (domestic only). True 24/7 cross-border at scale is still emerging.
USDC / USDT settlement is 24/7 on-chain. Many corporates now use this for weekend treasury funding, then convert to fiat on Monday. Compliance varies by jurisdiction.
Most banks charge the same regardless of when sent. The wait is unpaid time, not unpaid fee.
CIPS closes for the full week. CNY wires queue. Plan around the calendar published by PBoC in advance.