Stablecoins seen cutting FX costs, hidden fees

Yet one in 10 Singaporeans were denied a new account or merchant gateway.

Most Singaporeans using or considering stablecoins believe adoption could reduce foreign exchange (FX) markups, hidden fees, and cost leakage, according to a study by fintech company Morph.

Some 85% of 27 Singapore respondents using, implementing, evaluating, or open to evaluating stablecoins said they also expect faster, round-the-clock access to capital and better real-time payment tracking.

Trust, however, remains conditional, even as adoption has moved beyond awareness.

All 28 respondents asked about adoption confidence said regulatory compliance would have a very high impact.

Access to banking and payment services also remains a blind spot.

When asked about banking or payment disruptions they had faced during the previous 12 months, three of 30 Singapore respondents (10%) said they had been denied a new account or merchant gateway.

No respondent in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, or Vietnam selected this option.

The survey did not distinguish between an account and a gateway denial or ask why access was refused, Morph noted, but the result shows that payment friction can begin before a transaction is even made.

“Singapore’s results challenge the assumption that a mature payments market works equally well for every business,” said Renna Ba, director of operations at Morph.

“Stablecoins can widen the routes available, but only if the products around them meet Singapore’s expectations for compliance, visibility and reliable local-currency conversion,” she added.

Across the five markets, 94% said an alternative payment option would be extremely or somewhat valuable as a backup, showing strong demand for continuity when the usual route fails.

However, only 10% of the 149 respondents familiar with stablecoins were currently using them.

The study also identified three recurring payment pain points: high transaction fees and FX markups (79%), processing delays that affect cash flow (68%), and difficulty forecasting payment timing (66%).

The study, titled "The Cost of Getting Paid," aimed to measure the gap between when a cross-border transfer is sent and when the money becomes visible, accessible, and usable.

It was conducted by Morph and Studio by Informa TechTarget, surveying 150 independent operators, freelancers, solo consultants, and business decision-makers involved in cross-border payments across Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.