Consumers Yearn for Cheaper And Faster Remittances, Visa Finds

Remittances across borders are a welcome but expensive cross-border payment service for many, finds a new Visa Inc. report, “Money Travels 2026.”

With the U.S. alone sending $107.1 billion in outbound remittances in 2025, according to World Bank data, remittances can have a significant impact on recipients. Yet, many have concerns about costs, speed of delivery, and availability. Stablecoin-based remittances could alleviate many of these concerns, but uncertainty surrounds the digital-currency option. Stablecoins are digital assets with their values usually tied to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar.

Among the top concerns around remittances today are fees, cited by 24%, followed by how long it takes to access the funds, 17%, and ease-of-use issues, 14%, to name the top three issues. Among those who have experienced problems with remittances, 23% say the fees are too expensive, with 12% saying it takes too long to retrieve the funds, and 8% dissatisfied with the ease of use. Visa has made stablecoins and remittances priorities for its growth.

Visa’s survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers found that many might be open to stablecoin-based remittance services with more education and awareness of safeguards. The report found that 19% of U.S. consumers have sent money to a recipient in another country. Among Canadian consumers, 32% have done so.

If such a service had bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance, the percentage of consumers who might use it increases from 36% to 56%, Visa says. Still, there’s the hurdle of awareness. Fifty-six percent say they have never heard of stablecoins, with 44% having at least some awareness.

As it stands now, only 16% have a lot of trust in stablecoins as a money-transfer method, compared with 25% who trust cash remittances and digital-transfer options. Indeed, 48% place stablecoins in the same risk category as bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

Yet, when U.S. consumers are made aware that stablecoins are meant to hold their value and may offer tax advantages, 60% say they would be more likely to use them.

Closely tied to awareness is trust in providers. Traditional banks are trusted at least somewhat by 60%, with global payment networks, such as Mastercard Inc. and Visa, cited by 59%.

The trust level begins to drop with governments and central banks, at 49%, and technology enterprises, such as Apple Inc. and Google, at 43%. Dedicated crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase and Binance, were trusted by just 33%.

“Consumers see potential in stablecoins for international money transfers because they may enable faster, more seamless cross-border payments, but there is an awareness issue. Most Americans in our study said they have never heard of stablecoins,” Vira Platonova, global head of Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time push payments platform, tells Digital Transactions News. “The survey found greater interest when stablecoins were paired with features such as fraud protection, transparency and consumer safeguards, and when they were offered by a trusted provider.”

Many are are evaluating the experience as much as the technology, Platonova says. “As new forms of money movement emerge, people still want to know their money will arrive safely, reliably, and as expected. Our findings suggest those expectations will shape how quickly new payment technologies gain traction.”

Cross-border payments may be well suited to stablecoins, Platonova adds. “Cross-border payments are a natural area to explore these capabilities further. Businesses and consumers want money to move quickly, reliably and on their terms. Our research shows interest in innovation exists, but adoption depends on trust, transparency and consumer protections. We see stablecoins as one of several technologies that can help expand how money moves globally as those expectations continue to evolve.”

Visa says the report uses only consumer responses and does not incorporate Visa Direct transaction data or usage figures.