XRPL Transfer Fees – How Token Issuers Charge on the XRP Ledger
XRPL transfer fees are separate from the base network fee. They are optional percentage-based fees that token issuers can configure for their issued currencies on the XRP Ledger. When Alice sends Bob 100 EUR.ACME with a 1% transfer fee set by ACME Bank, Alice actually needs to send 101 EUR.ACME — the extra 1 EUR is returned to ACME's issuing account as revenue.
How TransferRate Works
The transfer fee is set via the TransferRate field in an AccountSet transaction. The value is expressed as an integer where 1,000,000,000 represents no fee (1:1), and 1,005,000,000 represents a 0.5% fee. The maximum transfer fee currently allowed is 100% (TransferRate of 2,000,000,000), following the fix1201 amendment enacted in November 2017.
Transfer fees apply starting from the end and working backwards — ultimately the sender must send enough to account for all fees along the payment path.
XRP Ledger Documentation
Who Uses Transfer Fees
Transfer fees are primarily used by financial institutions and stablecoin issuers that need to cover operational costs for maintaining reserves backing their issued tokens. Common use cases include:
- Stablecoin issuers (EUR, USD, SGD tokens)
- Central bank digital currency pilots
- Regulated payment service providers
- Exchange-issued tokens
Transfer Fees vs. Network Fees
It is important to distinguish these two fee types: the base network fee (10 drops) is mandatory for all transactions, burned by the protocol, and protects against spam. Transfer fees are optional, set by individual issuers, paid to the issuing account, and only apply to issued currencies — never to XRP itself, since XRP has no issuer on the ledger.
