# Stablecoins Could Offer a Trade Payment Route Where Banking Links Fall Short By John Kim Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/35581 Published: 2026-10-20T11:17:39.000Z Updated: 2026-10-20T11:17:39.000Z Section: Business > The average cost of cross-border payments for small and midsize enterprises was roughly 1.5%. Local-currency payout remains a hurdle. Businesses that can bank locally but struggle to settle foreign invoices could use dollar-pegged stablecoins to move value across borders, although local-currency payout remains a practical hurdle. Correspondent banks connect domestic institutions to payment networks abroad. When those relationships are restricted or withdrawn, a company may lose access to international transfers, foreign exchange and trade finance while keeping its domestic account. High compliance costs, low profitability and perceived financial crime risks can contribute to the pullback. The average cost of cross-border payments for small and midsize enterprises was roughly 1.5%. That measure covers a specific class of transactions, rather than every international payment. Deductions along a chain of intermediary banks can also leave a supplier with less than the invoiced amount. A buyer could send a dollar-pegged stablecoin on a blockchain at any hour. A payment provider could then convert the funds and arrange a payout in the seller’s local currency where that service is available. The buyer would still need to obtain the stablecoin, and the seller would still need a way to receive spendable funds. Conversion can add costs at both ends of a payment, while compliance requirements and access to local payout services remain part of the process. A fast blockchain transfer alone does not establish the total cost or the time needed to pay a supplier. [A Sept. 2026 survey of U.S. businesses with stablecoin experience]() included 265 finance and payments leaders at companies with at least $100 million in annual revenue. Among respondents using or piloting stablecoins, half cited faster settlement. That was their assessment, rather than a measured change in payment times. The survey covered larger U.S. companies that had already used, tested, evaluated or explored stablecoins. It does not measure stablecoin use among smaller firms facing limited cross-border banking access. ## Links in this article - [A Sept. 2026 survey of U.S. businesses with stablecoin experience](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/35236)