Western Union Explores Offering a Variety of Blockchain-Based Services 

Back in 2015, the international money transfer company partnered with Ripple to settle payments of remittances. However, that partnership did not come to fruition and Ripple began its partnership with MoneyGram, a Western Union competitor, in 2019. 

In June 2018, Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek said it does not plan to add a cryptocurrency transfer solution to its services anytime soon, according to a MarketWatch report. “The consumers tell us what they want. People aren’t paying their hospital bills in cryptos,” he said at the time.

Ersek also mentioned that central banks are usually skeptical about crypto assets, citing this as a reason why the company does not plan to expand its services to digital assets. According to Ersek, central banks are unwilling to give up control over their local currency to shift to a digital or decentralized alternative. 

He said that “nations are built on flags, constitutions, borders, and currencies,” adding that no central bank home to a reserve currency would consider giving up that kind of control.