A payment that has to land on a Saturday needs a rail that runs on a Saturday. Two kinds of system matter. Central banks run large-value (RTGS) systems, and most of them close at weekends and on local holidays. Instant rails, run by schemes or central banks, are mostly built to run every day. The table below shows which currencies have which, taken from the operators' own pages and checked on 7 November 2026. Where we could not confirm a cell, it says not verified.
The calendar
| Currency | Large-value (RTGS) system | Instant or 24/7 rail | On a Saturday or Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD | Fedwire Funds Service: closed Saturdays, Sundays and Federal Reserve holidays. The business day opens 9:00 p.m. ET on the preceding calendar day and closes 7:00 p.m. ET. | FedNow: around the clock, every day of the year. | Instant: yes. Wire: no business day on Saturday or Sunday; Monday's day opens Sunday 9:00 p.m. ET. |
| EUR | T2: Monday to Friday. Closed 1 Jan, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1 May, 25 and 26 Dec (ECB closing days). | SEPA Instant: 24/7/365. Default limit EUR 100,000, can be raised by agreement. Bank participation is being phased in; see our post on weekend fiat settlement for crypto brokers for the EU dates. | Instant: yes. T2: closed. |
| GBP | CHAPS: 6am to 6pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank and public holidays in England and Wales. | Faster Payments: not verified in this check. | CHAPS: closed. Instant: not verified. |
| AED | UAEFTS: the central bank page says settlement is real-time "throughout the system's business hours" but does not state them. | Aani (Al Etihad Payments, a central bank subsidiary): its launch release of 16 October 2023 describes payments processed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. | Instant: yes, per the operator's launch release. UAEFTS hours not stated. Federal government weekend is Saturday and Sunday (u.ae, Arabic page). |
| TRY | EFT (Turkish page): weekdays 08:30 to 17:30, until 13:00 on half-days. Closed on weekends and official holidays. | FAST: 7/24. | Instant: yes. EFT: closed. |
| ILS | Zahav: Sunday to Friday. A regular day ends 18:30, a short day (Fridays and holiday eves) ends 14:00, Israel time. Closed on dates in the Bank of Israel 2026 calendar. | Instant rail: not verified. | Zahav: closed Saturday, open Sunday and Friday (short day). |
| ZAR | SAMOS: the system is available 24 hours, seven days a week. The operations centre is open Monday to Friday and closed Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Sunday maintenance 06:00 to 17:00. | PayShap: not verified. | System available; operations centre closed. Instant: not verified. |
| INR | RTGS: 24x7x365 since 14 December 2020, minimum INR 200,000. NEFT: also 24x7x365, in half-hourly batches. | UPI: not verified (operator site does not permit automated reading). | Yes: RTGS and NEFT run every day. |
| CNY | CIPS (cross-border): runs on statutory business days, day session 08:30 to 17:30 and night session 17:00 to 08:30, Beijing time. Weekend treatment is not stated in the guidelines read. | CNAPS and IBPS: not verified (PBOC site does not permit automated reading). | CIPS: not stated. Domestic rails: not verified. |
| SGD | MEPS+: weekdays except public holidays, 09:00 to 19:00 (MAS disclosure of 2020, may be superseded). | FAST: 24x7, 365 days. Up to SGD 200,000 per transaction, bank limits apply. Some banks give next-business-day value after a cut-off or on a non-business day (ABS FAQ). | Instant: yes, check your bank's cut-off. MEPS+: closed. |
| PLN | SORBNET3: replaced SORBNET2 in September 2025. Hours not verified. (The old system ran Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 18:00: NBP, April 2024.) | Express ELIXIR: 24/7, including weekends and public holidays. Single-transfer limit PLN 100,000; availability depends on the bank. | Instant: yes. Large-value: not verified. |
| BRL | STR: not verified. | Pix: available 24 hours a day, every day of the year (Pix regulation, 2020 text). | Instant: yes. STR: not verified. |
| NGN | CBN RTGS: not verified. | NIBSS NIP: funds are credited in real time before deferred net settlement. Sources disagree on settlement cadence (two cut-overs a day versus four batches a day). | Weekend operation not stated. |
Times are local to each system; most sources do not state a time zone. Hours and holiday calendars change, so confirm a cut-off with your bank before relying on it. Next Federal Reserve closures this year: 11 Nov, 26 Nov and 25 Dec (holiday schedule).
What the table shows
Eight of the thirteen currencies have a rail whose operator states that it runs every day, weekends included: USD (FedNow), EUR (SEPA Instant), TRY (FAST), AED (Aani), INR (RTGS and NEFT), SGD (FAST), PLN (Express ELIXIR) and BRL (Pix).
Where we could verify the large-value system, it closes at weekends: T2, CHAPS, the Turkish EFT system and MEPS+ are closed on Saturday and Sunday, Fedwire has no business day on either (its Monday day opens Sunday 9:00 p.m. ET), and Israel's Zahav is closed on Saturday. India's RTGS is the exception and runs 24x7x365. South Africa's SAMOS is available around the clock, but the operations centre that staffs it is closed at weekends.
The practical reading: for a currency with a verified instant rail on both ends, a weekend payment is possible. For a currency where only the large-value system is verified, plan for the next business day.
What 24/7 does not guarantee
An instant rail is open, but that does not make every payment eligible. Three limits show up in the sources themselves. First, amounts: SEPA Instant defaults to EUR 100,000 per transfer, Express ELIXIR to PLN 100,000, and FAST to SGD 200,000, with banks free to set lower limits. Second, participation: both banks must take part, and KIR notes that availability at a given bank is up to that bank. Third, cut-offs: ABS notes that some banks give next-business-day value for a FAST payment made after a cut-off or on a non-business day. For FedNow we did not find a per-transaction limit on the page we read, so check it with your bank.
Planning a weekend payment
- Identify the rail for the payer's currency and for the payee's currency, and check each against the table.
- Compare the amount with the rail's limit, including any lower limit your bank sets.
- Ask the receiving bank whether it takes part in the instant rail and whether it applies a cut-off.
- For any currency marked not verified, treat the payment as business-day only until your bank confirms otherwise.
Where Modality fits
Modality settles any of 630 direct pairs between balances in 36 currencies, 24/7, with the rate quoted before you commit. That is the stablecoin side of a payment. A payout into a local bank account still depends on whether that currency has a local rail running that day, which is what the table shows. To see how a specific pair routes, use the pair checker, or read how 630 direct pairs are counted. On how conversions add up across a route, see like-for-like settlement and correspondent banking vs stablecoin settlement.
Talk to Modality. See your real rate before you commit.
What we could not verify
These cells are open because the operator's page could not be read automatically or did not state the hours: AED large-value hours (the UAE central bank page for UAEFTS gives none; the Aani statement comes from a 2023 launch release, not a current operating page), GBP Faster Payments, the Israeli instant rail, ZAR PayShap, INR UPI, CNY domestic systems (CNAPS and IBPS), PLN SORBNET3, BRL STR, and NGN large-value (RTGS) settlement. For NGN, three NIBSS pages give different settlement cadences, so we show the disagreement instead of picking one. The T2 closing days come from the ECB's holiday page, and the MEPS+ hours from a 2020 MAS disclosure that a newer version may have replaced. If you operate one of these systems or know a primary source for a cell, tell us and we will update the table.
FAQ: Weekend Settlement
Which currencies have a rail that runs on weekends?
In this check, eight: USD (FedNow), EUR (SEPA Instant), TRY (FAST), AED (Aani), INR (RTGS and NEFT), SGD (FAST), PLN (Express ELIXIR) and BRL (Pix). The operator's own page or release states that each runs every day. Other currencies may have one too; where we could not read a page, the table says not verified.
Do central-bank large-value systems run on weekends?
Mostly not. Where we could verify the hours, T2, CHAPS, the Turkish EFT system and MEPS+ are closed on Saturday and Sunday, Fedwire has no business day on either (its Monday day opens Sunday 9:00 p.m. ET), and Zahav is closed on Saturday. India's RTGS is the exception and runs 24x7x365. South Africa's SAMOS is available around the clock, although its operations centre is closed at weekends.
Does a 24/7 rail mean any payment can go at any time?
No. The rails above carry their own limits (for example EUR 100,000 by default on SEPA Instant and PLN 100,000 on Express ELIXIR), they work only between banks that take part, and some banks still apply cut-offs and next-business-day value dates.
Why do some cells say not verified?
Either the operator's page could not be read automatically, or it did not state the hours. We left those cells open instead of filling them from memory.
Sources
- Federal Reserve Financial Services, Fedwire Funds Service operating hours
- Federal Reserve Financial Services, About the FedNow Service
- Federal Reserve Banks, holiday schedules
- European Central Bank, T2
- European Central Bank, public holidays and TARGET closing days
- European Payments Council, SEPA Instant Credit Transfer
- Bank of England, CHAPS
- Central Bank of the UAE, UAE Funds Transfer System
- Al Etihad Payments, launch of Aani, 16 October 2023
- UAE Government portal, working hours in the federal public sector (Arabic)
- Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, EFT and FAST (Turkish)
- Bank of Israel, Zahav
- Bank of Israel, Zahav business days 2026 (PDF)
- South African Reserve Bank, settlement services
- Reserve Bank of India, RTGS FAQ
- Reserve Bank of India, NEFT FAQ
- CIPS Co., Ltd., Operational Guidelines (PDF)
- Monetary Authority of Singapore, MEPS+ PFMI disclosure 2020 (PDF)
- Association of Banks in Singapore, FAST fact sheet, 7 July 2026 (PDF)
- Association of Banks in Singapore, FAST FAQ, 23 July 2026 (PDF)
- National Bank of Poland, launch of SORBNET3
- National Bank of Poland, SORBNET2 participation rules, April 2024 (PDF)
- KIR, Express ELIXIR
- Banco Central do Brasil, Resolution BCB 1 of 12 August 2020, Pix regulation (PDF)
- NIBSS, NIBSS Instant Payment
- NIBSS helpdesk, How does settlement happen on the service
- NIBSS, From 3-day wait to per second transaction
All pages were read on 7 November 2026. Operator pages are the source for every hours and holiday statement in the table.