Remittance giant Western Union looks to integrate stablecoins into its digital wallet offerings
Money transfer providers face pressure from growing stablecoin adoption for cross-border payments and remittances.
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.
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Western Union sees stablecoins as an opportunity, and the company is actively adapting its infrastructure and partnerships to integrate the technologies into its global payment rails, said CEO Devin McGranahan in a Monday interview with Bloomberg’s ‘The Close.’
“Stablecoin is just one more opportunity to innovate,” McGranahan said, pointing out three key opportunities for the 175-year-old money transfer company. These include fast cross-border money movement, converting stablecoins to fiat currencies, and 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.
While not always cheap today, stablecoins gain long-term cost advantages through rising liquidity, tighter spreads, and smarter routing, said Chris Harmse, co-founder and managing director at BVNK, in a recent report. With improved risk tools and orchestration across fiat and crypto, stablecoins are on track to fundamentally reshape global payments.
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