Visa’s latest Money Travels: 2025 Digital Remittances Adoption Report reveals a strong shift toward digital remittance apps in North America.
The latest Visa report on remittance trends and opportunities revealed that nearly 70% of U.S. and Canadian consumers today prefer digital platforms and apps to send and receive money across borders.
It goes in line with the global shift to remittance apps, which are now the preferred method for people to send and receive international transfers. Globally, 67% of respondents favour sending money to a bank account using a mobile or web app, and 40% transfer money digitally from physical locations, like banks or retail outlets.
In the U.S., 69% of people surveyed say they prefer using digital apps to send money, and 61% prefer these apps to receive money. In Canada, 65% of respondents prefer digital apps for both sending and receiving money.
Mainstream adoption of remittance apps is driven by their convenience, security, and ease of use. In North America, popular peer-to-peer apps like Xoom, Remitly, or Wise are widely used for both domestic and international transfers. Meanwhile, traditional methods like cash or checks are becoming less popular, with only 5% to 8% of U.S. respondents and 3% to 6% of Canadian respondents still using them.
While traditional methods like cash and checks are rapidly declining, concerns over fees remain a key challenge. About one-third of both American and Canadian respondents cited this as a major issue when sending remittances digitally. At the same time, traditional remittance methods like cash, checks, or money orders do not present a viable alternative. Notably, 35% of U.S. and 28% of respondents in Canada experienced some hidden fees when using legacy money transfer means.
Therefore, Visa continues to innovate with emerging technologies, including stablecoins, to improve the speed, cost, and security of cross-border payments and expand financial access to one billion people globally involved in remittances. Since 2023, Visa has settled over $225 million in stablecoin volume across participating clients (such as banks and fintechs).
Through industry partnerships (like with Bridge, a Stripe company), Visa allows developers and fintechs to issue payment cards linked to stablecoin balances. This is especially useful for remittance recipients, who can receive funds in stablecoins and spend them instantly at any merchant accepting Visa. As stablecoins are converted to local currency at the point of sale, consumers don’t need to cash out through a separate process.
