[DigitalToday reporter Jae-won Choi] U.S. small and medium-sized businesses still have a low rate of adopting cryptocurrency payments, but it could instead become a new business opportunity for banks, an analysis showed. Banks could use stablecoin-based payment networks to reduce the burden of high fees from overseas transactions.

American Banker reported on Nov. 10 local time that a recent survey of 501 U.S. small businesses found the usage rate of cryptocurrency and stablecoin payments was 8 percent.

Some 22 percent of respondents said they use digital currencies for payments, but the figure fell sharply when asked specifically about cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. The analysis said many companies appear to confuse general electronic payments with digital assets.

Understanding of stablecoins was also low. When asked about key advantages, 38 percent said they did not know. Among specific benefits, cutting transaction costs was the most cited at 23 percent, followed by reducing fraud risk and preventing transaction cancellations.

Companies with active overseas business, by contrast, showed a clear burden from payment costs. About half of small businesses spent at least $2,000 a year on overseas remittance fees, and 23 percent exceeded $5,000.

Among mid-sized companies, about 80 percent paid at least $2,000 a year, and more than 20 percent reported fees exceeding $15,000.

The scale of spending by companies engaged in overseas transactions was also large. About 40 percent paid at least $250,000 annually to business partners and employees, and about 20 percent disbursed at least $1 million.

For banks, such companies could be an opportunity to win new customers. The analysis said combining stablecoin settlement networks with existing corporate banking services could reduce overseas remittance costs and improve payment efficiency.

Security concerns, low technical understanding and satisfaction with existing payment methods were cited as obstacles to broader adoption.

The outlet said, "If banks fail to improve their overseas payment services, they could lose large corporate clients to non-bank fintech companies."