Yes. Public holidays may affect the processing time of some incoming payments, outgoing payments, and FX conversions.
The impact depends on the transaction currency, payment method, payment rail, external banks, clearing systems, channel rules, cut-off times, and FX market availability. Transactions submitted on the same day may have different processing timelines if they use different currencies or payment methods.
Why can public holidays affect processing time?
During public holidays, some external banks, clearing networks, payment channels, FX markets, or liquidity providers may stop processing, operate with shorter hours, or delay transaction status updates.
As a result, even if a transaction is submitted successfully, completion may still depend on when the relevant external parties resume processing.
Which transactions may be affected?
1. Incoming payments
If you send a payment during a public holiday, the arrival time may depend on the payment method and the operating schedule of the relevant banks or clearing networks.
In general:
SWIFT or traditional bank clearing: may be affected by the sending bank, receiving bank, intermediary bank, correspondent bank, or the currency clearing calendar.
Local payment / local transfer: some local real-time or faster payment networks may continue to operate during public holidays, so the impact is usually smaller.
Non-real-time local rails: if the payment relies on batch clearing, banking days, cut-off times, or manual review, delays may still occur.
You may see:
Longer arrival time
Transaction status remaining as processing or pending
Confirmation delayed until the next available clearing day
Please note that a payment being initiated by your bank does not always mean the funds have already been cleared or received by us.
2. Outgoing payments
Public holidays may also affect outgoing payment processing, depending on the payment method.
In general:
SWIFT payments: are more likely to be affected, especially when the transaction involves currency clearing markets, correspondent banks, intermediary banks, or beneficiary banks that are on holiday.
Local payment / local payout: if the payment uses a local real-time or faster payment network, the holiday impact is usually smaller, and some networks may continue processing.
Standard local clearing: if the payment depends on banking-day batch clearing, bank cut-off times, or manual handling, it may be carried forward to the next available clearing day.
Processing time may be affected by:
Payment currency
Payment method: SWIFT, local transfer, instant payment, ACH, SEPA, FPS, etc.
Whether the payment rail operates during public holidays
Beneficiary bank country or region
Intermediary or correspondent banks
External channel cut-off time
Local banking holidays
If the relevant bank or clearing network does not process payments during a public holiday, the payment may continue processing on the next available clearing day.
3. FX conversion
FX conversions are mainly affected by the market holidays, liquidity providers, and settlement arrangements related to the currencies involved.
For example:
Conversions involving USD may be affected by US holidays.
Conversions involving EUR may be affected by European clearing or market holidays.
Conversions involving GBP, HKD, SGD, AUD, JPY, and other currencies may need to follow the relevant market and clearing calendars.
During public holidays, FX conversion may experience:
Limited quote availability
Changes in exchange rates or spreads
Delayed conversion settlement
Changes to guaranteed rates or quote validity
For cross-currency conversions, both the buy currency and sell currency calendars may need to be considered.
What is the difference between SWIFT and local payment?
SWIFT
SWIFT is a messaging network. Public holidays do not usually make the SWIFT network itself unavailable.
However, the actual processing, clearing, settlement, or crediting of funds still depends on whether the relevant banks and clearing systems are operating.
For example, USD SWIFT payments are usually affected by US banking holidays because USD clearing typically involves US banks or USD clearing systems.
Non-USD SWIFT payments may also be affected if the payment route involves an intermediary bank, correspondent bank, or receiving bank in a country observing a public holiday.
Local payment
Local payments are usually processed through local payment networks.
If the local network supports real-time or holiday processing, the impact of public holidays is usually smaller, and some transactions may still be completed normally.
However, delays may still occur if:
The local payment network does not support holiday clearing
The bank does not process the relevant transaction during holidays
The transaction requires manual review
The transaction is submitted after the cut-off time
The external channel pauses or delays processing during holidays
The transaction involves cross-currency settlement or additional bank routing
Therefore, local payment is usually less affected by cross-border banking holidays than SWIFT, but the final processing time still depends on the specific payment network, bank, and channel rules.
Why do different transactions have different processing times?
Public holiday impact is not determined by one factor only. It depends on a combination of:
Transaction currency
Payment method or payment rail
Sending bank
Receiving bank
Beneficiary country or region
Intermediary or correspondent banks
External channel cut-off time
FX market availability
This means two transactions submitted on the same day may have different processing timelines.
What can you do?
To reduce the impact of public holidays, we recommend that you:
Allow additional processing time for payments and FX conversions around public holidays.
For urgent payments, confirm whether local or instant payment is available.
Check the public holiday calendar for the relevant currency, country, or region before submitting a transaction.
If the transaction status has not updated yet, please allow time for the relevant bank or clearing network to return the result.
What information should you provide when checking a transaction?
To help us check your transaction, please provide:
Transaction ID or reference number
Transaction type: incoming payment, outgoing payment, or FX conversion
Transaction currency or currency pair
Payment method: SWIFT, local transfer, instant payment, etc.
Sending bank or receiving bank information
Payment proof, if applicable
Important note
A transaction being submitted successfully does not mean external banks, clearing networks, payment channels, or FX providers will process it immediately during public holidays.
The actual completion time depends on the operating schedules, clearing calendars, and processing rules of the relevant external parties.