A survey of more than 6,700 people across ten major markets has quantified the economic damage inflicted by fragmented cross-border payment infrastructure, with one in three remittance recipients reporting they have struggled to pay for food, rent or utilities because funds were trapped in disconnected systems.
The research, published jointly by Singapore-headquartered payments network Thunes and analyst firm Juniper Research, frames the problem as a structural “fragmentation deadlock”: domestic payment systems in most major economies now clear in real time, but the rails connecting those domestic networks across borders have not kept pace.
The human cost of the friction tax
The headline figures are striking. Among remittance-dependent respondents, 82% reported experiencing at least one material consequence from delays, fees or uncertainty, including missed essential bills, mental health stress or being forced to turn down work. Separately, 42% described stress or anxiety directly linked to unpredictable cross-border transactions.
The gig economy dimension is particularly pointed. Among gig workers receiving international payments, 11% said they had lost or turned down job opportunities because of payment delays, fees or uncertainty. That is nearly three times the 4% rate recorded among non-gig workers. The structural exposure is also higher: 63% of gig workers send or receive money internationally, compared with 27% of non-gig workers, and they are twice as likely to experience volatile month-to-month income, meaning a delayed payment can directly disrupt their capacity to take on further work.
Thunes describes this emerging gap as a “Digital Mobility Divide”, the idea that access to fast and reliable international payments is becoming a precondition for participation in the global labour market. Where that access is absent, the effect is not merely inconvenience but a concrete reduction in earning potential.
Transparency is also identified as a failure point. Four in ten senders report receiving a different final amount than they expected, and among 18 to 24 year olds, 49% said they received no upfront cost clarity at all.
Chloe Mayenobe, deputy chief executive of Thunes, said: “This data exposes a brutal truth: the cross-border ‘friction tax’ is a parasite on the global economy, and the cost is being paid by those who can least afford it.”
Regulatory and market context
The findings land against a backdrop of longstanding G20 commitments to reduce remittance costs. The G20’s target, set in 2011 and repeatedly renewed, is to bring the global average cost of sending remittances below 3% of the transaction value by 2030. World Bank data has shown progress but the average remains above that threshold in many corridors, with regulatory compliance costs, correspondent banking de-risking and fragmented domestic clearing all contributing to the gap.
The Thunes research adds a consumer-level dimension to that policy debate. Interoperability frameworks are advancing in several regions, notably through ISO 20022 migration in wholesale payments, the BIS’s Nexus multilateral platform model, and the EU’s move to mandatory instant credit transfers under its revised Payment Services Regulation. In emerging markets, bilateral linkages between real-time payment systems, such as those being built across ASEAN and parts of Africa, are closing specific corridors, but a globally coherent interoperability layer does not yet exist.
For commercial payments operators, the report is a reminder that infrastructure gaps are not merely a reputational or social issue. They represent a ceiling on revenue in the gig economy vertical, where platforms such as Uber, Deliveroo and Grab, all named as Thunes network members, depend on reliable cross-border worker payouts as part of their operating model.
The full Thunes Cross-border Payments Interoperability Index, which benchmarks markets across five dimensions using World Bank data, is available via the Thunes website. The underlying survey was conducted in April 2026 and covers the United States, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China, India, the Philippines, the UK, Germany, South Africa and Nigeria.
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