72% of banks are preparing stablecoin capabilities, but just 10% are live
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of banks are actively planning, building, piloting or operating capabilities for their own payment stablecoin, but only one in ten banks has those capabilities live in production, according to new research from RedCompass Labs.
The report, “Are banks actually ready for digital money?” surveyed 300 senior payments professionals across Europe, the UK and the US. It examines where digital assets, such as stablecoins, are most likely to gain traction. It asks how banks are preparing and where the main infrastructure, operational and control gaps remain.
For many banks, supporting the rising adoption of stablecoins will require significant change. More than half of respondents (57%) expect their organisation to build new infrastructure or materially upgrade existing systems to support stablecoins or tokenised deposits.
AI is expected to play a major role in this transition. Most (80%) banks plan to use AI agents to analyse, develop and test upgrades to the systems required to support digital money.
Banks are also concerned about the commercial consequences of stablecoin adoption. Four in ten (40%) expect deposit outflows over the next three to five years. Nearly three-quarters (72%) expect an average of 8% average of existing payment flows to move onto digital-asset rails. With global cross-border payment flows estimated at $208n in 2025, even a relatively small shift could represent trillions of dollars in payment value.
Banks are also worried about the commercial consequences of failing to support stablecoins or tokenised deposits within the next three years. The biggest concern is the cost of maintaining parallel legacy and digital systems, cited by 26%, followed by deposit outflows to digital-money alternatives at 21%, dependence on third-party infrastructure at 18%, and the loss of corporate payments clients or payment volumes and revenue at 17% each.
Additional notable findings include:
- Cross-border settlement is the most likely entry point: Nearly a third (31%) expect cross-border settlement to be their institution’s first interaction with stablecoins.
- Regulation and integration are the biggest barriers: Regulatory uncertainty is the leading obstacle to adoption or scale at 35%, followed by integration complexity at 32% and reserve and liquidity concerns at 31%.
- The UK is leading the way: Some 20% of UK respondents have their own stablecoin capabilities live in production, while 22% are live with third-party stablecoins, approximately twice the global averages.
- Banks are building services beyond issuance: Some 60% are building or already offering treasury, foreign exchange and liquidity services for digital assets. More than half are also developing distribution, embedded payments, on and off ramps, and custody or reserve management.
Santhosh Kumar, senior payments SME at RedCompass Labs , said: “Banks clearly believe stablecoins are moving into the mainstream, but most are still some distance from being ready to support them at scale. Moving to live payments means reworking the infrastructure, controls, and operations behind the transaction.
“The stakes are commercial too, with banks expecting payment flows to shift onto digital-asset rails, and many are already considering the impact on deposits. AI agents can accelerate the necessary system changes, but banks still need to decide where they want to compete and what they are willing to outsource.
“The banks that turn stablecoin strategy into working infrastructure fastest will be best placed to protect payment flows, deposits, and customer relationships.”
Download the full report here.