Crypto payments create reconciliation costs for businesses, study shows

A study of 150 financial-institution executives found 37% faced costs exceeding $20 per failed or delayed payment. When customers send the wrong token or select the wrong blockchain, merchants must trace transfers and reconcile orders, consuming staff time. Across a dataset of completed merchant refunds, the median gap between original payment and refund creation was 3.7 days. For refunds processed without email confirmation, median time to send funds was 21 minutes, compared to 4.3 hours when confirmation was required. NOWPayments reports a 103.8% year-over-year increase in successful integrations and a 92% increase in partners making their first transaction in September 2026.