Western Union is working on stablecoin settlement systems in Africa — CEO

Global financial services and cross-border payments firm Western Union has hinted that it is set to unveil stablecoin-based payments settlement systems in Africa and South America. 

According to CEO Devin McGranahan, the firm has been working in the shadows with on-the-ground payments infrastructure firms in these regions to build these stablecoin-based products. 

The details 

• Western Union sees stablecoins as an opportunity to innovate rather than a threat, McGranahan told Bloomberg. 
• According to him, the traditional finance institution has identified stablecoins’ speed when used for payments across borders as a viable use case to help the firm’s product offerings. 
• In addition, Western Union is already working on products to ease stablecoin-to-fiat conversions in “harder to convert currencies” and fund storage options in stablecoins to preserve value. 
• McGranahan added that the company also plans to launch a stablecoin onramp and offramp product to allow its users to swap their stablecoins for fiat and vice versa on the platform. 
• He, however, did not elaborate on the nature of these products or on the timeframe for their release to the public, but he did affirm that the payments giant has seen opportunity in the asset class, and it is pursuing them presently. 

Key quotes 

• When asked about the rollout of Western Union’s stablecoin initiative McGranahan told Bloomberg: 

“We are already innovating in several places in the world on moving money and settling, both in South America and Africa. We are innovating our settlement processes to move money quicker and to more easily convert into local currency...” 

• He added: 

“We are also exploring other partnerships with people who want onramps and offramps in different parts of the world and how we can enable Western Union’s Funds In and Funds Out to enable people to purchase and sell stablecoins.” 

Zoom out 

• Western Union is the latest name on a growing list of tradFi corporations adopting stablecoins.
• Last May, Mariblock reported that global card issuance firm Mastercard partnered with cryptocurrency payments company Moonpay to enable stablecoin transactions via Mastercard-issued credit and debit cards. 
• In the same month, global payments company Stripe announced a stablecoin-payment system — stablecoin financial accounts — to allow businesses globally to receive payments for goods and services in stablecoins. 
• A month later, global card infrastructure firm Visa announced a partnership with the pan-African exchange Yellow Card to expand its stablecoin settlement solution into Africa. 
• According to Yellow Card’s chief of staff and director of strategy, the uptick in the interest of tradFi institutions in working with stablecoins rather than avoiding the asset class is due to recent clarity in global regulations. 
• She told Mariblock: 

“Regulatory clarity has emerged across several jurisdictions ... giving institutions the green light to innovate without fear of enforcement surprises. We have [also] recently seen the passing of the GENIUS Act, which is a signal to the world that stablecoins are moving fast. This move is incredibly important. It ensures transparency, capital reserves, and consumer protection, giving institutions the confidence to build on top of stablecoin rails.”