Western Union Eyes Stablecoins for Digital Wallets
Western Union to Integrate Stablecoins
Remittance giant Western Union is looking to integrate stablecoins into its digital wallet offerings, enhancing its global payment infrastructure.
Key Takeaways:
- Western Union is exploring stablecoin integration to enhance its digital wallet services.
- The company aims to provide faster cross-border transactions and stablecoin-to-fiat conversions.
Western Union sees stablecoins as an opportunity to innovate its global payment rails, according to CEO Devin McGranahan in a recent interview with Bloomberg’s ‘The Close.’
“Stablecoin is just one more opportunity to innovate,” said McGranahan, highlighting three key opportunities:
- Fast cross-border money movement
- Converting stablecoins to fiat currencies
- Providing customers with a stable store of value
“What we see is stablecoin really as an opportunity, not as a threat,” he added.
McGranahan revealed that Western Union is already implementing new settlement processes in South America and Africa to facilitate quicker money transfers and local currency conversions.
The company is also exploring partnerships to enable customers to purchase and sell stablecoins through its platform.
“We are also exploring other partnerships with people who want on ramps and off ramps in different parts of the world and how we could enable Western Union’s funds in and funds out to enable people to purchase and sell stablecoins,” McGranahan outlined.
“We’re investigating how we might offer stablecoin products in our digital wallets to our customers around the world,” he said, noting these initiatives would involve partnerships with infrastructure companies.
Stablecoins are pressuring legacy remittance and cross-border payment firms with faster, cheaper, and more accessible alternatives. As adoption grows, these players must adapt or risk losing ground.
Chris Harmse, co-founder and managing director at BVNK, noted that while not always cheap today, stablecoins gain long-term cost advantages through rising liquidity, tighter spreads, and smarter routing.
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