Hesab cuts remittance costs 6% for remote workers in Africa and Middle East

Hesab's new self-custody bank settles dollar stablecoin transfers in under a second on the Movement network, replacing the 2-to-5-day correspondent banking route that has kept remittance costs high across the Global South.

Sub-second settlement replaces the 2-to-5-day wait

Hesab picked Movement as the exclusive stablecoin settlement layer for its Global Self-Custody Bank, the two companies announced July 7 from San Francisco. The bank went live for users across Africa and the Middle East on the same date, with dollar balances held in wallets where the keys sit on the user's device.

Movement's rails cut settlement from the traditional 2 to 5 days to sub-second, stripping out the pre-funded float and correspondent bank fees that pad remittance pricing. Global remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries hit $685 billion in 2024, per Movement's figures and the World Bank's tracked average cost on that volume runs above 6%.

What it costs a nomad using it

The account holds dollars directly. Users can send dollars peer-to-peer, spend through a global card network or cash out to local currency through Hesab's agent network in Africa and the Middle East.

For a remote worker earning $4,000 a month and moving that income into a local African or Middle Eastern currency through a traditional bank wire, typical remittance and FX spreads of 6% to 8% eat $240 to $320 monthly or roughly $2,880 to $3,840 a year. Routing the same flow through a stablecoin rail that settles on-chain compresses that to on-ramp, off-ramp and agent margins, which Movement pitches as a fraction of correspondent-bank pricing. Actual Hesab fee schedules for card spend and agent cash-out haven't been published.

Access is widening through Q3

Movement secured licensed payment rails in the US, Canada and the EU on June 2, opening the sending side for diaspora users wiring money home. Its Motion Wallet integration with Mesh is projected to support deposits from centralized exchanges in Q3 2026, with each exchange taking one to three weeks to plug in once MOVE is listed.

Nomads working across multiple jurisdictions can compare cash-out mechanics against local banking options in the regional destination guides.