Visa survey finds low stablecoin awareness and trust among Filipinos
Only four in 10 Filipinos have heard of stablecoins, and just 9% strongly trust them for sending or receiving remittances, according to a Visa survey of 3,101 respondents conducted between 24 February and 18 March. The findings, published in Visa's "Money Travels: 2026 Digital Remittances Adoption" report, underline how far stablecoin-based cross-border payments remain from mainstream use in one of the world's most remittance-dependent economies.
Understanding is thin even among those aware of the instrument. Visa said 3% of respondents know a lot about stablecoins, 7% know some things and 11% know a little, while 21% have heard of them but know nothing and 58% have never heard of them. On perception, 37% correctly identified that a stablecoin is designed to stay close to a real currency such as the US dollar, while 35% believed its value moves up and down like Bitcoin. Some 26% thought stablecoins are only for traders, 18% believed transactions are anonymous and untraceable, and 3% thought their government had fully banned them.
Confidence in recovering funds sent via stablecoins stood at 19%. Strong trust in stablecoins for remittances was 9%, against 41% for cash transfers and 34% for digital transfers. Asked who they would most trust to provide a digital currency, 33% named a government or central bank, 31% a global payment network, 21% a traditional commercial bank, 19% a technology giant and 11% a dedicated crypto exchange. The top drivers of trust were strong security and fraud protection at 40%, easy conversion to local currency or cash at 26%, faster access to funds at 24% and lower fees at 23%.
Qinwen Xiao, head of Visa Direct in regional Southeast Asia, said at a media briefing on Thursday that stablecoins are the emerging method for enhancing cross-border payments and that Visa is exploring, piloting and commercially launching stablecoin initiatives with financial institutions in different markets, tailored to local regulation and consumer appetite. Filipinos appear receptive to learning: 40% want more education about stablecoins, 37% want more new digital money options and 33% said current financial apps are easy to use, while 27% said they focus more on who offers the service than on the technology itself.
The Philippines was the top receiver-led market among the six Asia-Pacific markets surveyed, which also included Australia, mainland China, Japan, India and Singapore, with 45% of Filipino respondents having received money from overseas in the past 12 months. Respondents cited support for essentials (34%) and familial or cultural obligation (33%) as the main reasons for remittances, both the highest among the markets surveyed, with 30% citing holiday or special-occasion gifts. Mobile wallets were named the fastest channel by 44%, followed by direct digital transfers to a bank account at 31%. High fees were the most cited area for improvement at 37%. Jeffrey Navarro, Visa's country manager for the Philippines, said the company sees room for outbound remittance growth driven by small and medium enterprises and funding education abroad, citing new stablecoin features through Visa Direct.
