Remittance Cost Calculator
Cost Comparison Tool
Compare the costs of sending money through traditional banks versus stablecoins like USDC. The tool shows you the total fees based on current industry standards.
Why sending money across borders still costs too much
Every year, people send over $200 trillion across borders. Most of it goes through banks, Western Union, or Wise. And every time, you pay. Not just a little - an average of $13.24 to send $200. That’s over 6.6% in fees. In some corridors, like the U.S. to Nigeria or India, it’s worse. For families relying on money from abroad, that’s groceries lost, school fees unpaid, medical bills delayed.
Traditional remittances work like a game of telephone with money. Your bank sends a message to its correspondent bank, which sends a message to another bank, which finally credits the recipient. None of those banks actually move the cash. They just update ledgers. It takes days. And every step adds cost.
How stablecoins cut the middlemen out
Stablecoins like USDC and USDT are digital dollars tied to the U.S. dollar. They run on blockchains - networks that don’t need banks to verify transactions. When you send $200 in USDC from Canada to the Philippines, it doesn’t go through Visa, SWIFT, or a dozen intermediaries. It goes directly from your wallet to theirs. In under a minute. For less than a penny.
In 2024, stablecoins moved $15.6 trillion in value - matching Visa’s entire annual volume. By early 2025, they handled $6 trillion of global remittances alone. That’s 3% of all cross-border payments. It’s still small compared to traditional systems, but it’s growing fast. In the Philippines, cryptocurrency remittances jumped 217% in 2024. In Nigeria, Kenya, and Vietnam, adoption is climbing too.
The real savings: speed and cost
Here’s what changes when you swap banks for blockchain:
- Cost: Traditional remittance: $13.24 per $200. Stablecoin: under $0.01 on Layer 2 networks like Polygon or Solana.
- Speed: Traditional: 2-5 business days. Stablecoin: under 60 seconds.
- Access: You don’t need a bank account. Just a smartphone and a crypto wallet.
One manufacturing company in Toronto started paying its suppliers in Singapore using USDC. Before, payments took 3-5 days to clear. Now? Under 15 minutes. They saved over $8,000 a month in fees and reconciliation costs.
But here’s the catch: the recipient needs to turn crypto into cash. If your mom in Lagos receives $200 in USDC, she still needs a way to cash out. That’s where third-party services come in - and they often charge 3-5% to convert it to naira. That eats into the savings.
Why it’s not everywhere yet
Technology isn’t the problem. Regulation is.
The U.S. is still figuring out how to treat stablecoins. The EU has MiCA - a strict rulebook for crypto assets. Vietnam, India, and Brazil have their own rules. Some countries ban crypto entirely. Others allow it but require KYC and AML checks. The Travel Rule - which forces platforms to share sender and receiver info - is now mandatory in most major markets.
That’s why companies like Circle, Ripple, and BVNK are building compliance into their systems. They lock down wallets, verify users, and auto-convert to local currency on the receiving end. But it’s expensive. And slow. And it doesn’t work everywhere.
Even big banks are testing the waters. J.P. Morgan ran a successful pilot with Singapore’s central bank and France’s Banque de France, using digital versions of the Singapore dollar and euro on a private blockchain. Settlements took seconds. But they’re not replacing SWIFT yet. They’re testing.
Who’s using this - and who’s not
Businesses are leading the charge. According to Gartner, 38% of Fortune 500 companies now use blockchain for at least some cross-border payments. Why? Because they pay suppliers in bulk. Every 1% fee saved is tens of thousands in savings. They don’t care if the recipient has a crypto wallet - they pay in USDC, and the supplier’s payment processor converts it to local currency automatically.
For individuals? It’s harder. Most people sending money home don’t want to learn how to use a wallet. They don’t trust crypto. They want to walk into a store, hand over cash, and know their family gets it the same day.
Platforms like Yellow Card and Paxful are trying to bridge that gap. They let you send crypto from your phone, and the recipient gets cash at a local agent. But those agents aren’t everywhere. In rural areas of Ghana or the Philippines, they’re rare. And the fees to cash out still hurt.
The road ahead: CBDCs and global rules
The next wave isn’t just stablecoins. It’s Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Around 90% of central banks are working on them. China’s digital yuan, the digital euro, and the digital dollar are all in testing. The Bank for International Settlements is running mBridge - a project that lets CBDCs move between countries in seconds.
Imagine this: You send $200 from Canada to Mexico. It’s not USDC. It’s Canadian digital dollar. It lands in your sister’s phone as Mexican digital peso. No conversion. No fees. No intermediaries. Just a direct transfer between two central banks.
But that’s years away. Right now, the biggest obstacle is coordination. No country wants to give up control over its money. No regulator wants to be the first to open the floodgates. The G20 and Financial Stability Board keep saying they want better cross-border payments. But they haven’t agreed on how.
What this means for you
If you’re sending money home:
- Check if your recipient can receive crypto. If they can, use a service like Circle or BVNK that auto-converts to local currency.
- Compare fees. If the cash-out fee is 4%, you’re not saving much.
- Don’t try to do it alone. Use a licensed provider. Never send crypto to a stranger’s wallet.
If you’re a business:
- Start small. Pay one supplier in USDC. See how fast it clears.
- Choose a provider with licenses in your key markets - U.S., EU, Southeast Asia.
- Make sure they handle compliance. You don’t want to accidentally violate AML rules.
The old system isn’t going away tomorrow. But it’s cracking. The cost is too high. The speed is too slow. And now, there’s a better way.
Is crypto remittance right for you?
It’s not magic. It’s not risk-free. But it’s real. And it’s working for millions.
For the first time in history, someone in rural Uganda can receive money from their cousin in Toronto without paying 10% in fees. For the first time, a small business in Vietnam can pay its supplier in Poland without waiting a week.
The technology is here. The savings are real. The only thing holding it back is whether the world can agree on how to use it.