Stellar (XLM) says cross-border payments settle in about five seconds

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Stellar (XLM) says its payments network settles in about five seconds with fees under a cent, as new integration activity adds to cross-border use cases.

Stellar (XLM) said its cross-border payments network can settle in about five seconds with network fees under a cent, highlighting a payments model built around moving value across currencies rather than transferring its native token alone. The company’s page, published Oct. 28, 2026, also pointed to more than $2 billion in monthly volume and 99.998% uptime since 2014.

Evidence and context

According to Stellar’s own materials, the network is designed for banks, enterprises and payment providers that want to pay in one currency and deliver in another. The company said that can reduce the need to hold cash abroad because payments are final in about five seconds, and that one transaction can convert and deliver funds in a single step. Stellar also said its infrastructure supports Travel Rule data and network-level freeze and clawback controls for regulated assets.

The page cited multiple ecosystem examples to show how the network is being used. It said MoneyGram Ramps offers USDC cash-in and cash-out in 170+ countries through 475,000+ locations, while Circle issues USDC and EURC directly on Stellar. Stellar also cited Franklin Templeton’s BENJI fund as running with these controls since 2021, and said Airtm cut payout costs by 20% to 25% for more than 250,000 recipients using USDC on Stellar with Bridge for payouts in 150+ countries.

Recent integrations add more context. On Oct. 28, 2026, Movantis announced an integration with the Stellar network to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure, according to the company announcement distributed by PR Newswire. A separate report from CCN on Sept. 10, 2026, said US Bank was testing near-instant global payments on Stellar. Those items indicate continued institutional interest, but they do not by themselves verify transaction volumes, adoption rates or end-user settlement times beyond the specific claims made by the named sources.

There are also limits to what Stellar’s settlement figures mean in practice. The five-second figure refers to blockchain settlement, not necessarily the time needed for bank funds or cash to reach a recipient. Compliance checks, liquidity, currency conversion and local payout rails can add time and cost. Stellar’s official materials also distinguish between its network infrastructure and demand for XLM, the native token, so activity in stablecoin-based payments should not be treated as direct proof of token demand.

As of Oct. 28, 2026, XLM traded at $0.1721165, up 2.08% on the day, with a market value of $6.1 billion, according to the provided market data. Those figures describe the token’s market performance and should be read separately from the network’s payments claims.