Glossary · moving money

What is a remittance?

A remittance is money sent by an individual to someone in another country, usually a worker supporting family at home. It is the same movement as a cross-border business payment, and it is priced far worse.

All terms

Why the word matters in a payments discussion

u003cpu003eRemittance corridors are where cross-border payment costs are least defensible. Small amounts, frequent, to countries with thin banking infrastructure, and historically charged at percentages a business would never accept.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eThat is why remittances are the most cited use case for crypto payments, and why the citation is usually a step ahead of reality. Moving value on a blockchain is cheap. Turning it into local cash the recipient can spend is the hard part, and that is a local off-ramp problem rather than a blockchain one.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eFor a business the term is mostly relevant in two ways. If you pay individuals abroad, your payouts are functionally remittances and the same corridor economics apply. And if your customers are remittance senders, the off-ramp on the other end is your product problem, not a detail.u003c/pu003e

What is genuinely solved and what is not

Worth separating, because the marketing in this area runs well ahead of the plumbing.

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The transfer itself

Minutes, a network fee, no correspondent chain. This part is real and settled.

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The last mile

Getting value into local currency the recipient can spend depends on local off-ramps. This varies enormously by country.

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The compliance

Sending money to individuals across borders attracts the travel rule and sanctions screening, whatever rail you use.

Related terms

public

Cross-border payments

The business version of the same movement.

Cross-border payments

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Off-ramp

The last mile, and the part that is not solved everywhere.

Off-ramp

flight

Travel rule

What has to travel with the transfer.

Travel rule

u003cbu003eWhere this happens in practice.u003c/bu003e Sending to individuals is u003ca href=u0022/crypto-payoutsu0022u003ecrypto payoutsu003c/au003e, and doing it without their wallet details is u003ca href=u0022/crypto-payoutsu0022u003epayout linksu003c/au003e.

Frequently asked questions

Is a business payout a remittance?

u003cpu003eFunctionally yes when you are paying an individual abroad. The corridor economics are the same even though the terminology differs.u003c/pu003e

Does crypto make remittances cheap?

u003cpu003eIt makes the transfer cheap. Whether the whole journey is cheap depends on the off-ramp at the other end, which is local and variable.u003c/pu003e

Can CoinGate pay someone who has never held crypto?

u003cpu003eYou can send them a u003ca href=u0022/crypto-payoutsu0022u003epayout linku003c/au003e, which walks them through choosing an asset and network. What they do with it afterwards is up to local options.u003c/pu003e