Obviously, cross border funds transfer is bound to improve with the emergence, growth and potential maturity of cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency market could get a boost once Western Union, the largest money transfer service in the world, integrates cryptocurrencies and blockchain in its system. And it can be unarguably said that a considerable period of time now, Western Union has been exploring the value that the cryptocurrency industry could add to its service.
Western Union has been quoted to had laid emphasis on the fact that “there is need for cryptocurrencies to be used in mainstream sectors before it can adopt them fully. Once mainstream brands acknowledge and accept cryptocurrencies, 2019 could turn out to be the year of mass adoption.”
According to a news outlet, “in a video released by the company, the Western Union said it is ready to increase its customers’ payment options by adopting cryptocurrencies at any time. In what Western Union described as ‘easy’, the company stated that it would not hesitate to adopt cryptocurrencies when it feels the time is right and will add cryptocurrencies to the 130 currencies it already accepts.”
The report claimed that the president of Western Union said that “Western Union is well-equipped and allocates significant resources to solving the challenges that cryptocurrencies face before they are broadly accepted namely compliance, governance and volatility.”
In one of its exploration at integrating cryptocurrencies and Blockchain into its system, Western Union has been reported to had started” blockchain-based money transfer trials in partnership with Ripple in a bid to increase speed and cost efficiency of its services. Although initial results were not encouraging, the company still has blockchain trials ongoing.”
And if Western Union succeeds in adding cryptocurrencies to its international money transfer service, it will ultimately become the first financial service brand to move in that direction. The wire transfers are significantly faster compared to traditional banking methods and are available in most geographical locations around the world, making it possible for customers to send money in hundreds of currencies.
“Integrating old and new systems is a good way of exposing the public to this new currency. Perhaps it may be cheaper to send a cryptocurrency rather than money orders. It seems that blockchain has resolved much of the need for services like Western Union.” said Joseph Oreste, the CEO of Qupon.
