Visa report shows low stablecoin awareness in Philippine remittance market

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Visa report: stablecoin in PH remittance

Highlights

Visa's survey of 3,101 Filipinos finds only 40% have heard of stablecoins, with just 9% expressing strong trust in them for remittances.
Filipinos rank as the top receiver-led remittance market surveyed, with 45% receiving money from overseas in the past year for essentials and obligations.
Visa identifies security, easier conversion, speed, and lower fees as main stablecoin trust drivers and is piloting related initiatives to tap growing remittance opportunities in the Philippines.

Survey findings on awareness and trust

As reported by BusinessWorld, citing Visa’s “Money Travels: 2026 Digital Remittances Adoption” report based on a survey of 3,101 Filipinos conducted from Feb. 24 to March 18, only 40% of respondents have heard of stablecoins and only about a third of that group say they clearly understand what they do.

Just 3% say they know a lot about stablecoins, 7% say they know some things about them, and 11% say they know a little. Another 21% say they have heard of stablecoins but do not know anything about them, while 58% say they have never heard of them.

Confidence also remains limited. Only 19% say they are confident they could recover funds sent through stablecoins, while strong trust in stablecoins as a remittance method stands at 9%, below cash remittance transfers at 41% and digital remittance transfers at 34%.

On perceptions, 37% know that a stablecoin is designed to stay close to a real currency such as the U.S. dollar, while 35% believe its value moves up and down like Bitcoin. Some 26% think stablecoins are only for traders rather than everyday users, 18% think transactions are anonymous and cannot be traced, and 3% think the government has fully banned them.

Remittance potential and industry implications

Despite the low awareness level, respondents show interest in learning more about digital currencies as remittance use cases expand. The survey finds that 40% want more education about stablecoins, 37% want more digital money options, and 27% say they focus more on the service provider than the technology itself.

The Philippines ranks as the top receiver-led market among those surveyed, which also include Australia, Mainland China, Japan, India, and Singapore. Some 45% of Filipino respondents say they have received money from overseas in the last 12 months, citing support for essentials, family or cultural obligations, and gifts for holidays or special occasions as leading reasons.

Filipinos identify mobile wallets, bank account transfers, and card-based app or website payments as the fastest remittance channels, while fewer point to in-person transfers. Difficulty transacting outside normal banking hours also remains a challenge, suggesting room for alternatives that promise faster access and broader availability.

Visa says strong security and fraud protection are the biggest drivers of trust in stablecoins, followed by easier conversion into local currency or cash, faster access to funds, and lower fees. Visa executives say the company is exploring, piloting, and commercially launching stablecoin-related initiatives in different markets, while seeing room for further outbound remittance growth in the Philippines, including among small and medium enterprises and families funding education abroad.

In our earlier article on SEON’s expansion in the Philippines, we noted how the fraud-prevention provider is targeting banks, remittance companies, and payments firms as digital transactions grow and compliance requirements tighten. The piece highlighted SEON’s partnership with Exist Software Labs as a way to plug into local data and relationships, reflecting how stronger fraud controls are becoming central to maintaining trust across remittance and digital payment channels.

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