Consumers across Asia Pacific are increasingly willing to trade speed for security when it comes to cross-border payments, with 68 percent in Japan and 57 percent in both Singapore and Australia saying they would accept a 24-hour transfer delay in exchange for stronger AI-powered fraud protection. The finding comes from Visa‘s Money Travels 2026 Digital Remittances Adoption Report, which surveyed more than 45,000 remittance senders and receivers across 20 markets.

“Cross-border money movement is fundamental to how people, businesses and economies connect across Asia Pacific,” said Chavi Jafa, Senior Vice President, Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions, Asia Pacific, Visa. “Building trust through education, transparency and security will be critical to the next phase of adoption.”

AI-enabled fraud is reshaping trust

Concern about AI-enabled fraud is particularly pronounced in the Philippines (62 percent) and India (53 percent), where consumers worry that deepfakes could be used to impersonate family members or facilitate scams. Exposure to remittance scams overall is highest in India (40 percent) and the Philippines (29 percent), compared with 19 percent in China and 11 percent in Japan.

Digital adoption continues to widen across the region. Mobile banking apps remain the preferred channel for sending money internationally, with usage ranging from 33 to 60 percent across the markets surveyed, though Japan is a notable outlier, with 32 percent of consumers still favouring physical bank branches.

Stablecoin awareness still lags

For the first time, the study included a module on stablecoin awareness and adoption intent. It found interest rises sharply once respondents understand that stablecoins are designed to hold a stable value, but roughly half of consumers across the region still believe stablecoins carry the same or greater risk than cryptocurrencies generally.

“For banks, remitters and fintechs, the opportunity lies in delivering seamless cross-border experiences while managing growing complexity on behalf of clients,” said Rhidoi Krishnakumar, Vice President, Head of Visa Direct, Asia Pacific, Visa. The Asia Pacific findings cover Australia, Mainland China, India, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore, and form part of a global study conducted by Morning Consult on Visa’s behalf between 24 February and 2 March 2026.