What is FedNow?

FedNow is the Federal Reserve's real-time payment system for U.S. dollar transfers between select U.S. financial institutions. Dakota supports FedNow as a payment rail, giving you the ability to send and/or receive payments instantly — any time, any day.

How it works

FedNow is a credit-push rail, meaning the sender initiates the payment and pushes funds to the recipient. Once a payment is accepted by the receiving bank, it is final and cannot be reversed through the FedNow network.

Payments are routed based on the account number and routing number you provide — not by name. Double-checking these details before sending is important, as there is no name-matching safeguard.

Key characteristics

• 24/7/365 availability — FedNow operates around the clock, including nights, weekends, and holidays. There are no batch cycles or next-business-day delays.

• Near-instant settlement — Payments are typically credited within seconds of being accepted by the receiving bank.

• Domestic only — FedNow supports U.S.-to-U.S. transfers only. International payments are not supported on this rail.

• Both the sending and receiving bank must be FedNow participants, and the receiver must be enrolled — many US banks aren't.

• Credit only — FedNow does not support debits. Only outgoing sends and incoming receives.

• Irrevocable — Once accepted, payments cannot be reversed through FedNow. See Returns below.

• Transaction Limit: $500,000 — Any amount above that will need to be sent via Fedwire.

Funds availability

When you receive a FedNow payment, funds are available immediately once the payment is posted. Unlike ACH, there are no standard multi-day holds on FedNow credits. In rare circumstances (such as a fraud or compliance review), availability may be briefly delayed.

Returns

FedNow payments are not reversible once accepted through the network. If a return is needed — for example, due to a sending error or suspected fraud — it must go through a Request for Return of Funds, which depends on cooperation from the receiving bank and is not guaranteed.

The FedNow returns process can take up to ten standard business days (if has been accepted by the receiving bank).

If you need to initiate a return on an incoming FedNow credit, please reach out to support@dakota.xyz