The benefits and challenges of using stablecoins for remittances range from their potential impact on the global economy to how businesses and banks can leverage this innovative technology to improve their services.

Remittances play a crucial role in the global economy, as they represent funds sent by migrant workers to their families back home. These funds provide financial support to households in developing countries, contributing significantly to their overall income. According to the World Bank, remittance flows to low and middle-income countries reached $540 billion in 2020.

So with this understanding let us take a look at the current state of cross border payments and how operations are currently running.

Traditional methods of sending cross-border payments, such as banks or money transfer operators (MTOs), are often slow, expensive, and lack transparency. High fees, long settlement times, and unfavourable exchange rates make these methods inefficient and costly for both consumers and businesses. Additionally, many individuals in developing countries lack access to formal banking services, further complicating the remittance process.

Stablecoin remittances offer several advantages over traditional methods, addressing many of the pain points associated with cross-border payments.

• Remove intermediaries
• Increase the accessibility
• Increased transparency

Stablecoin remittances allow for peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries such as banks or MTOs. This results in lower transaction fees and more favourable exchange rates. Furthermore, stablecoins enable near-instantaneous transfers, providing a more efficient alternative to traditional methods. Coupled with the fact that approximately 1.7 billion adults worldwide lack access to a bank account, stablecoin remittances can provide a more accessible solution.

Since stablecoins can be accessed through a smartphone, they offer a new way for individuals to participate in the global economy and access financial services, even in regions with limited banking infrastructure. They also provide greater transparency compared to traditional methods. Senders and recipients can track their transactions on blockchain networks, ensuring that they have full visibility into the transaction process and associated fees.

The rise of stablecoin remittances presents an opportunity for banks and businesses to modernise their services and improve customer experience. By integrating stablecoins into their systems, banks and businesses can offer faster, more affordable, and efficient remittance services. This can help reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, especially for those who rely on cross-border payments. This works as part of the fight to help bank/re-bank the current approximate 1.4B people globally who do not have access to be able to send or receive remittances.

Stablecoin remittances represent a significant opportunity for individuals, businesses, and banks to improve cross-border payment processes. By leveraging the benefits of stablecoins to help with addressing the associated challenges, the remittance industry can undergo a transformative shift, making international payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible for everyone. In an industry which has seen minimal disruption, such a shakeup will seem to be a huge domino knocked down as part of the process to increase innovation.

You can find out more about Poundtoken’s own reserves for the GBPT stablecoin here. For more information, visit our complete guide to stablecoins.