A recent survey from Morph reveals that Singapore is a key hub in APAC for companies utilizing stablecoin payments.
The research delves into how payment delays, costs, and banking issues affect business in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Morph and Studio by Informa TechTarget spoke to 150 independent operators, freelancers, consultants and people who handle cross-border payments. Near-totality (94%) of respondents indicated the usefulness of alternative payment options as backups if standard payment methods break down. A mere 15 of 150 companies currently rely on stablecoins, but 78% of respondents aware of them think either they or tokenised cash will become the norm in the coming three years.
According to Morph, a company that creates blockchain technologies and stablecoin instruments for business, the objective of the study was to assess the difference between sending and receiving money and when it can be utilized. Five specific markets were chosen for the purpose of determining whether the responses of various Asian countries are similar enough to treat them as one payment market.
In reality, it appeared that stablecoin adoption significantly varies in the five markets surveyed. Singapore shows the best performance regarding speed of settlements along with ongoing stablecoin projects. Indonesia lags behind in terms of payment ease while having the least number of ongoing projects. The Philippines is the leader in terms of stablecoin usage, while Vietnam only evaluates possibilities of usage.
The survey, however, found three common cross-border payment problems that appear again and again:
- 79% said high fees and foreign exchange markups are an issue when money moves across borders.
- 68% believe slow processing complicates management of cash coming in, and
- 66% said they often cannot tell when a payment will actually arrive.
These problems seriously affect business cash flows in the region. The vast majority of 83% wait at least two business days for international invoice payments to land in their local bank account, and 65% of those surveyed lose at least 3% of what they earn abroad to fees and currency conversion.
Out of those who are already utilizing stablecoins or pondering their potential use, 88% have expressed a belief in a reduction of FX spreads as well as any concealed charges. Similarly, the same share believed stablecoins would provide them with quicker access to funds outside bank working hours. Finally, 87% of the respondents expect stablecoins to allow them to track their transactions in real time.
At the same time, these expectations are theoretical. Many payment operators do not consider the dual nature of stablecoin payments at their current stage. Wesley Rios, Morph’s Senior US Payment Partnership Manager, sheds some light on the paradox:
“Many platforms see the person who signs up and pays for the service as their customer. But the truth is, every payment, whether in fiat or stablecoins, serves two parties. Both deserve to be treated as customers because adoption depends on people being willing to transact with each other. A company may be happy to pay in stablecoins, but if its contractors keep asking for bank transfers, the arrangement is unlikely to last. Equally, a freelancer’s preference for stablecoins means little if clients find paying that way too much trouble.”
This way, unless payment platforms offer seamless crypto-fiat conversion, assistance with reliable withdrawal service and fund movement, costs of stablecoin implementation can eventually return through higher contractor fees or requests to use another payment method.
Of the 149 people who said they know about stablecoins, only 10% are now actually using them. Almost 40% of respondents said they are actively looking at adoption over the next 12 to 24 months. Another 26% said they might consider it later. When asked what would make them more confident, 96% said regulatory compliance matters a lot. Seventy-four percent gave the same weight to being able to convert and withdraw into a local bank account quickly.
According to Renna Ba, the Director of Partnerships at Morph, the findings indicate low business tolerance for unpredictability between the time the money leaves their hands and the time it is available for use.
“Stablecoins will earn a place in business payments only when providers can prove the real cost, make conversion into local currency routine and give finance teams the records they already expect,” she said.
Nevertheless, the report does not conclude that companies should drop banks for stablecoins. They are considered additionally useful in case when using general routes is slow, expensive or unavailable. It also notes that the requirements for the successful implementation of stablecoins vary from country to country.
For example, Singapore would want clearer proof on transparency and process. Hong Kong is curious about process’s continuity and equality with the local currency, Philippines need practical liquidity, Indonesia desires definite savings and trust, while Vietnam concerns about compliance.
