Last reviewed: · Curated by Ohmyfin Organisation editorial.
Fedwire Funds Service is the US Federal Reserve's RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) system for final, irrevocable USD wire transfers between financial institutions. It is the backbone of US dollar settlement — processing roughly 800,000 transactions worth over $4 trillion every business day. Track any USD wire free on Ohmyfin →
Fedwire operates Monday through Friday from 09:00 to 18:00 ET (with a special early close on some Federal Reserve holidays). There is no Fedwire on weekends or US Federal holidays. Within these hours, each Fedwire payment settles in real time — the debit and credit happen simultaneously and the settlement is final and irrevocable. This is the key advantage of Fedwire over ACH: no reversal risk.
Fedwire payments are identified by an IMAD (Input Message Accountability Data) and an OMAD (Output Message Accountability Data). These are 22-character references that uniquely identify each Fedwire transaction. The IMAD is assigned by the sender; the OMAD is assigned by the Federal Reserve and is the primary reference for tracing. If you are tracing a USD wire in the US, ask for the OMAD — it is the Fedwire equivalent of the UETR for SWIFT payments.
Not every US bank has direct Fedwire access. Community banks, credit unions and smaller institutions typically use a correspondent bank (often JPMorgan Chase, Citi, or BofA) to access Fedwire indirectly. In this case, the sending bank's wire first goes to its correspondent, which submits the Fedwire transaction on its behalf. This is transparent to the sender but adds one internal hop.
International wires denominated in USD are settled through a combination of SWIFT messaging and Fedwire/CHIPS settlement at the US end. A European bank sending USD to India will route the payment: European bank → US correspondent (via SWIFT MT103) → US correspondent submits Fedwire to Indian bank's US correspondent → Indian bank credits the account. CHIPS (Clearing House Interbank Payments System) is an alternative to Fedwire for interbank USD settlement and handles most large-value same-day USD transactions between the largest US banks.
Fedwire is real-time gross settlement — each payment settles individually and immediately, is final and irrevocable, and is used for large-value time-critical transfers. ACH is batch-processed — payments are netted and settled in batches throughout the day, take 1–3 days, can be reversed, and are used for payroll and small recurring payments.
Yes — provide the OMAD to either the sending or receiving bank and they can trace the exact Fedwire transaction. The OMAD format is a 22-character string. The Federal Reserve does not provide direct public lookup; the trace goes through your bank.
There is no stated maximum on a Fedwire transaction. Individual banks apply their own limits for retail and business customers. For very large transactions, your bank's treasury desk can handle them — corporates routinely send nine and ten-figure amounts via Fedwire.
The payment queues for the next Fedwire business day. In practice, US correspondent banks apply internal cut-offs (typically 15:30–16:30 ET) before the 18:00 Fedwire close, so the effective cut-off for international USD wires is earlier than 18:00 ET. See /glossary/cut-off-time.
No card needed. Free for ordinary users — completely free for individuals — no daily limit, no card required. Track any international wire across 11,000+ banks.
Track a payment now — completely free Or try the tracker now →