Western Union is considering introducing cryptocurrency services

Today there are many startups on the market offering payment transfers using cryptocurrencies. However, Western Union Global Money claims that many years of experience, deep knowledge and an impeccable reputation will give WU the opportunity to become a leader in the cryptocurrency payment systems market faster than any of the existing projects.

In a new video, Western Union explains that the world's largest cross-border payments service has access to "billions of bank accounts" worldwide and also works with "more than half a million retail agents." This allows Western Union to operate in any mode without hindering the global movement of money. 

Even though Western Union's current platform does not use blockchain technology, the company has been providing a reliable and efficient service for many decades. Regardless of what specific technology is used to perform a specific task, the end result is what interests users, says the head of the company. In the case of cross-border transfers, what matters is how much the transaction costs and how long it takes for the payment to clear. Whether blockchain is used to make money transfers is irrelevant to most. 

Western Union has already thought about using the new technology and assessed the work of blockchain and cryptocurrency transactions with Ripple. However, several months after the tests began, the money transfer service said it had not yet seen financial benefits or achieved any significant cost savings from testing Ripple (XRP).

And in July of this year, Western Union itself filed a patent for a new cryptocurrency-based payment system. The news is a sign of global payment systems' push towards blockchain and cryptocurrency to provide security, liquidity and speed up transfers.