The two-sided future of remittances

Why the next era belongs to platforms that win on both cost and reliability

The global remittance industry is entering a decisive new phase. Volumes continue to rise, with the market size projected to reach USD 751.49bn in 2026, expanding to USD 814.58bn by 2035, according to Business Research Insights. Cross-border commerce is accelerating, and stablecoins are moving from experimentation to institutional adoption. 

However, today’s market can be an unforgiving environment for remittance providers. Customers compare fees and FX rates in real time and won’t hesitate to switch providers instantly if pricing deteriorates – even small inefficiencies compound quickly at scale.

At the same time, customer expectations around speed and reliability have fundamentally shifted. Stablecoins and 24/7 settlement have now become minimum requirements, particularly for institutional use cases such as global payroll, ecommerce payouts and cross-border treasury operations. 

With greater regulatory clarity across key jurisdictions, more banks and payment providers have joined the market, offering lower fees and smoother user experiences. 

Balancing cost and reliability

With remittances remaining a vital financial lifeline in developing economies, this combination is forcing remittance companies to rethink their infrastructure as they juggle razor‑thin cost margins with rising expectations for speed and reliability.

While traditional correspondent banking can add unnecessary fees, delays, intermediaries and liquidity strain, this is not an option for payroll providers for whom reliability and timeliness are an absolute necessity.

Meanwhile, sectors such as ecommerce and tier 2/3 banks depend on flawless, predictable cross-border treasury flows. In many emerging market corridors, failure rates can reach 50-90%, making consistency a major competitive differentiator. That’s why it’s vital for remittance platforms to be able to deliver both sides simultaneously, without compromise.

Why current infrastructure falls short

Much of today’s remittance infrastructure was not really designed to suit this environment. While legacy banking rails add cost and settlement friction, newer fintech platforms may often excel in one dimension but struggle in another – for example, some may prioritise compliance and coverage over unit economics, or be fast but lack the reliability needed for payroll or high-stakes institutional flows. Others may offer strong stablecoin capabilities but have limited jurisdictional reach or banking partnerships.

What this leaves is a fragmented landscape, in need of a single solution that can fully address the combined demands of cost efficiency and reliability at scale.

How BLINC enables the two-sided future

BLINC, BCB Group’s instant settlement network, is designed specifically to meet this dual challenge, providing the infrastructure to enable the next generation of remittance, payroll, and cross-border treasury flows.

• BLINC’s faster settlement cycles reduce capital lock-up, so remittance companies can operate with lower liquidity buffers and deploy capital more efficiently. This directly lowers their costs per transaction while providing the same quality of service.
• Lower unit transaction costs make it particularly attractive for high volume, low margin remittance flows. This cost efficiency thus becomes a structural advantage for clients, rather than a constant battle against the worry of shrinking margins.
• BLINC provides access to a network of liquidity and FX providers. This turns FX efficiency into a competitive differentiator, enabling remittance firms to offer better pricing while keeping trade processes smooth and frictionless. 
• BLINC is built on multi-jurisdictional banking partnerships rather than a single bank model. This reduces reliance on correspondent banking and improves reliability across corridors, particularly in markets where traditional infrastructure struggles.
• Looking ahead, future unlock of third-party payments will enable full end-to-end remittances, allowing BLINC to support more complex and scalable payment flow use cases across payroll, ecommerce and institutional payments.

Real-world use cases

Harnessing both sides of this equation is key to global success. For example, the US-Dubai remittance corridor benefits from instant settlement by reducing the need for pooled liquidity. Meanwhile, across African markets reliability has become more significant in cost when choosing payroll delivery, due to a high rate of failure. 

Elsewhere, cross -border ecommerce platforms gain steady, predictable treasury flows and better control over their capital. Finally, smaller, tier 2 banks can access faster stablecoin-based cross- border payments without incurring SWIFT fees or waiting through long correspondent‑banking chains.

Leading the future of remittance

The remittance industry is transitioning rapidly from early stablecoin experiments to widespread institutional integration. 

BCB Group’s BLINC settlement layer is ideally positioned to lead this transformation. It allows institutions to settle cross-border fiat and stablecoin flows seamlessly 24/7, offering unified payment accounts, instant settlement rails and multi-currency collections, cutting both cost and friction while maintaining compliance across jurisdictions.

In an environment such as this, cost efficiency, reliability and regulatory strength are no longer trade-offs but requirements. Platforms that can deliver all three will define the next era of cross- border payments.