[onetwothreefour]

FedWires are almost instant... depending on your bank, receiving bank, etc.

For most B2B FedWires, it's pretty much instant. Yay Treasury.

The cutoffs do suck, however.

The US needs to catch up to the rest of the world with regards to banking. And also kill off checks.

[jareau]

What's the cost for FedWire?

[onetwothreefour]

The nominal cost (cost to the bank) is here:

http://www.frbservices.org/servicefees/fedwire_funds_service...

It costs less than $1 to send a FedWire. The FedWire can be up to $1BN. :)

The FedWire system is actually very similar to transfer systems in other countries. I'm not sure why ACH is still in use apart from as a way to digitize checks.

That said, most banks charge, at minimum, $12 per wire in/out for personal accounts. Most business/corporate accounts get wires free since that's how people pay each other (something like $1TN in wires is processed every day).