---
title: What 250,000+ international payments reveal about European businesses
description: What do 250,000+ international payments reveal about European businesses? Explore currency, corridor and country-by-country payment trends.
image: https://blog.ibanfirst.com/hubfs/Speed%20of%20payments/2026/EN/SP-Feature-image-EN-2026.png
---
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# What 250,000+ international payments reveal about European businesses
[Blog](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en) 
[Cross-border payments](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/tag/cross-border-payments#topics-list)
Publication date
15 October 2026
Jump straight to
- [USD remains the dominant currency](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#usd)
- [Payment speed varies sharply by corridor](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#corridor)
- [More intermediary banks do not always mean slower payments](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#intermediaries)
- [When you send a payment matters](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#send)
- [Six ways to improve payment speed](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#ways)
- [How payment patterns vary across European markets](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#patterns)
- [Plan your upcoming payments with confidence](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/international-payment-speed-trends#choose%20us)
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Publication date
15 October 2026
European businesses make international payments every day. But which currencies do they use most? Which corridors dominate? And how much does payment speed vary between markets?
Our [Speed of International Payments Barometer](https://info.ibanfirst.com/international-payment-speeds) offers some answers. We analysed more than 250,000 SWIFT payments made by European small and medium multinationals (SMMs) and compared this with nearly 190,000 payments in the [previous report](https://info.ibanfirst.com/payment-speeds).
Two years of data reveal clear patterns. USD remains the dominant currency, China remains the most common destination, and the time of day businesses send payments can affect their chances of same-day processing.
Let's dive in.
## USD remains the dominant currency
USD accounted for 56% of tracked payments in 2025 (58% in 2024) and was the leading currency in the majority of markets analysed.
USD payments move through the world’s most connected international payment network, concentrated around a relatively small number of major US and European banking hubs. That connectivity makes USD a practical choice for businesses trading across borders.
There is also a strong network effect. Businesses often use USD because their suppliers, customers and existing financial relationships already use it. The more companies use USD, the more useful and liquid it becomes for international trade.
That helps explain why USD remains dominant, even when the USA is not directly involved in the transaction.
### The most common payment corridors
So where are European businesses sending payments? The most common corridors were as follows:
| **Payment corridor** | **% of total tracked SWIFT payments in 2025** | **% of total tracked SWIFT payments in 2024** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| USD to China | 15% | 16% |
| USD to Hong Kong | 7% | 7% |
| USD to the USA | 5% | 6% |
| GBP to the UK | 4% | 6% |
| HUF to Hungary | 4% | 2% |
| EUR to Türkiye | 2% | 2% |
| RON to Romania | 2% | 2% |
| USD to Singapore | 1% | 1% |
| USD to the UAE | 1% | 1% |
| USD to the Netherlands | 1% | 1% |
These figures reflect the international payment needs of European businesses: paying suppliers, settling invoices and moving funds between markets and subsidiaries.
## Payment speed varies sharply by corridor
The biggest difference appears when we compare individual payment corridors.
Almost 60% of USD payments to the USA settled within two hours. For USD payments to China, the figure was just 12%.
| **Settlement time** | **USD to the USA** | **USD to China** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Under 2 hours | 59% | 12% |
| 2–24 hours | 35% | 55% |
| 24–48 hours | 2% | 9% |
| More than 48 hours | 4% | 24% |
The average number of intermediary banks involved in each corridor was very similar. This shows that intermediary banks alone do not explain the difference.
Time zones, local processing cut-offs, banking networks and regulatory requirements in the destination country can all affect the outcome.
For businesses, the practical message is clear: payment speed depends on the specific route, not just the payment currency or the number of banks involved.
## More intermediary banks do not always mean slower payments
Businesses might assume that every intermediary bank adds significant delay to a payment. The data tells a more nuanced story.
The average cross-border payment involved 1.8 intermediary banks, compared with 1.9 in the previous year.
79% of finalised payments involving two intermediary banks settled within two hours.
Payment speed also depends on the corridor, the institutions involved and how those institutions process the payment. Businesses should therefore avoid using the number of intermediary banks as a standalone measure of speed.
## When you send a payment matters
The report identified a consistent timing pattern. Payments sent before 10am CET from Monday to Wednesday performed best on average.
Payments sent earlier in the day and earlier in the week have more time to move through the payment chain before local cut-off times or weekends affect processing.
That does not mean that sending a payment at 9am guarantees same-day settlement. The destination, currency, payment route and beneficiary details still play a role.
However, it does suggest a useful working habit for finance teams: if timing matters, make international payments one of the first tasks of the day.
This can be particularly important when a payment supports a production schedule, supplier release or delivery deadline.
Six ways to improve payment speed
Understanding what affects payment speed matters. But so does knowing what you can do about it.
### 1. Make outgoing payments your first task of the day
Send time-sensitive payments early, ideally before 10am from Monday to Wednesday.
It can help to prepare payment information the day before, including beneficiary details, amounts and any supporting documents such as invoices or contracts. Providing complete information upfront can help payments move through security and anti-money laundering checks more efficiently.
### 2. Get the details right before you send
Sender-side errors are among the most common and preventable causes of payment delays.
An incorrect IBAN, BIC or account name can add hours to the payment journey. A vague payment reference may trigger an additional compliance check. For certain corridors, including payments to China, India and parts of the Middle East, a missing or incomplete purpose code can cause a significant delay.
Before releasing a payment, check that the beneficiary details match their banking information exactly. These checks take minutes and can save days.
If you regularly pay multiple suppliers or beneficiaries, batch uploads can also help you organise payment instructions more efficiently. iBanPay, for example, allows users to upload up to 50 payment orders in one CSV or XML file.
### 3. Streamline your internal approval workflow
For many businesses, the approval step is where time gets quietly lost.
If the sole approver is travelling, misses a notification or needs to approve a new beneficiary, a transfer can remain waiting internally. For genuinely time-sensitive payments, agree an escalation path in advance.
Decide who can approve a payment if the primary approver is unavailable and how quickly they need to respond. Approvers should also keep payment authentication tools, such as the iBanFirst mobile app, installed with notifications enabled.
### 4. Use a direct SWIFT member
Not all payment providers are direct members of the SWIFT network. Providers that are not direct members may need to route payments through a correspondent bank that is, adding an extra step before the payment begins its main journey.
Choosing a direct SWIFT member can remove that first step and provide access to the latest SWIFT payment innovations as they become available.
### 5. Use SEPA Instant for euro payments
For euro payments within the SEPA zone, SEPA Instant can deliver funds within seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In Q1 2026, SEPA Instant accounted for more than 35% of all EU credit transfers, up from around 15% in 2023.
The key question is whether both your provider and the beneficiary’s bank support it. If they do, SEPA Instant can be a useful default for euro payments within Europe.
### 6. Allow time for the beneficiary bank to process the funds
The payment journey does not necessarily end when the funds reach the beneficiary bank. Some banks credit incoming payments within minutes, while others take longer to process and credit them.
Build a buffer into time-sensitive payments and schedule them in advance rather than sending them just before a deadline. [Learn more about final-mile delays](https://euc-word-edit.officeapps.live.com/en/final-mile-delays).
## How payment patterns vary across European markets
The barometer tracked payments from 11 European markets. The main differences appear in the corridors and currencies businesses use, the number of intermediary banks involved and the time payments take to settle.
| Market | **Most common corridor** | **Leading currencies (by no. of payments)** | **Average intermediary banks** | **Settled within 24 hours** |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Belgium | USD to China | 61% USD, 15% EUR, 9% GBP | 1.6 | 68% |
| Bulgaria | USD to China | 67% USD, 22% EUR, 4% BGN | 1.5 | 72% |
| France | USD to China | 63% USD, 16% EUR, 8% GBP | 2.5 | 72% |
| Germany | USD to China | 64% USD, 14% EUR, 4% GBP | 1.8 | 71% |
| Hungary | HUF to Hungary | 71% HUF, 14% USD, 9% EUR | 1.6 | 84% |
| Italy | USD to China | 77% USD, 9% EUR, 6% GBP | 1.5 | 73% |
| Luxembourg | GBP to the UK | 47% USD, 28% EUR, 17% GBP | 1.6 | 76% |
| Netherlands | USD to China | 78% USD, 5% GBP, 5% EUR | 1.7 | 71% |
| Romania | RON to Romania | 50% USD, 24% RON, 21% EUR | 1.5 | 78% |
| Spain | USD to China | 70% USD, 11% EUR, 9% GBP | 1.6 | 72% |
| UK | GBP to the UK | 72% USD, 13% GBP, 6% EUR | 1.1 | 86% |
The UK recorded the highest share of payments settling within 24 hours at 86%, followed by Hungary at 84%.
France recorded the highest average number of intermediary banks, at 2.5. However, 72% of finalised payments still settled within 24 hours. Again, this shows why the number of intermediary banks should not be used as a standalone measure of payment speed.
## Plan your upcoming payments with confidence
The figures reflect the importance of international supplier and partner relationships outside Europe. They also show why finance teams need reliable delivery estimates for specific payment routes.
Before sending an important payment, consider:
- Which currency you are sending
- Where the beneficiary’s bank is located
- The relevant local cut-off times
- Whether the provider and beneficiary bank support instant payments
- How much time you need to allow for final processing
The [2026 barometer](https://info.ibanfirst.com/international-payment-speeds) shows that many payment patterns remain consistent from one year to the next. USD continues to dominate, while China, Hong Kong and the USA remain major destinations.
At the same time, country-level differences show that payment speed depends on more than the sender’s location. The currency, corridor and beneficiary bank all play a role.
The most useful benchmark is therefore not the average European payment. It is the expected delivery window for your specific payment route.
Want to see how fast your payments move? Use our[payment speed calculator](https://info.ibanfirst.com/payment-speed-calculator) to estimate delivery times for your own payment routes.
**Topics**
[Cross-border payments](https://blog.ibanfirst.com/en/tag/cross-border-payments#topics-list)
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