- Western Union is planning to launch a brand new ‘steady card’ in excessive inflation economies to permit prospects to carry and transact in stablecoins.
- The ‘steady card’ is a part of Western Union’s broader stablecoin technique, which incorporates partnering with quite a few crypto on- and off-ramp suppliers and launching its personal US dollar-backed stablecoin.
Cash switch firm Western Union is planning to situation a brand new ‘steady card’ — a card which permits prospects to carry and transact in stablecoins — aimed toward permitting prospects in excessive inflation economies to protect the worth of their remittances.
Such a card is required in international locations like Argentina, the place inflation is so excessive employees can see nearly half the worth of remittances eroded in only a few weeks, Matthew Cagwin, Western Union’s Govt Vice President and Chief Monetary Officer, defined whereas speaking at the united statesGlobal Know-how and AI Convention 2025 final week.
“So view this like an issuing card, however it will have a a lot stickier profit in a rustic the place there’s excessive inflation,” Cagwin mentioned.
“I’ve an enormous workforce in Argentina. Are you able to think about dwelling in a rustic the place final yr, your inflation was 250%, 300%. We gave our workers 4 raises final yr as a result of when you didn’t, they made — they couldn’t afford their payments.”
So think about a world the place your loved ones within the U.S. is sending you $500 house, however by the point you spend it within the subsequent month, it’s solely value $300. So we are able to see an excellent utility for our steady card there.
Western Union’s ‘steady card’ initiative is a part of its broader stablecoin technique, first introduced in late October and showcased throughout the firm’s Investor Day on November 6. Cagwin mentioned the corporate’s new concentrate on stablecoins will unlock liquidity at present locked as much as facilitate cash transfers, permitting the corporate to place extra of its capital to work.
As you already know, we’ve obtained a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} trapped in our enterprise every single day to have the ability to allow real-time funds. We expect to have the ability to transfer to a stablecoin would enable us to tug that cash out and really free it up to make use of for different functions.
Matthew Cagwin, Western Union CFO Cagwin additionally mentioned Western Union’s soon-to-be-launched Digital Asset Community (DAN), which has seen the corporate accomplice with quite a few on- and off- ramp suppliers as a way to ease the usage of stablecoins on its cost community.
“We’ve now obtained partnerships with 4 totally different suppliers to have the ability to be an on-ramp, off-ramp with them. We anticipate to go dwell with them within the market within the first half of subsequent yr,” Cagwin defined.
“We’re enthusiastic about this as a result of it permits us to get extra foot site visitors into our brokers…and for the client, it would appear and feel identical to a Western Union remittance transaction at the moment.”
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Western Union to Launch its Personal Greenback-backed Stablecoin
One other key plank in Western Union’s stablecoin technique is the launch of its personal dollar-backed stablecoin, generally known as the US Greenback Fee Token (USDPT). In keeping with a statement from Western Union, the token will launch within the first half of 2026 on the Solana blockchain and will likely be issued by Anchorage Financial institution.
Cagwin mentioned Western Union’s present cost community — current in nearly each nation on Earth — offers the brand new coin an excellent likelihood of adoption.
We expect that we’ve obtained good distribution to the 200 international locations world wide we’re in. However as you already know, remittances are a big a part of GDP for a lot of international locations we do function in, and we’re often one of many largest suppliers.
Matthew Cagwin, Western Union CFO Associated: Global Push Toward Stablecoins Accelerates as Banks, Visa, and Western Union Join the Race
Cagwin additionally highlighted the added management the corporate will get from creating its personal stablecoin, quite than counting on one other token, akin to Circle’s USDC or Tether’s USDT.
“We expect that we are able to make a marketplace for our coin in these markets. And we needed to have the ability to management the economics, management the compliance and management the general distribution, and we expect we are able to develop that past that,” he mentioned.
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