Western Union has launched a digital wallet and a Visa-branded card in 37 markets that can store, transfer and pay with a dollar-pegged stablecoin. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 5 that Western Union teamed up with stablecoin infrastructure firm Rain to introduce “Stablecard.”
Stablecard supports USDPT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin based on the Solana blockchain. USDPT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank. Users can hold USDPT and receive, transfer and make payments. Western Union remittances can also be received directly into a USDPT wallet.
Users can move funds to compatible crypto wallets or exchanges. Balances can be used at any Visa merchant and it also supports Apple Pay and Google Pay. Western Union plans to expand availability to more than 60 markets by year-end.
Western Union can expand its blockchain-based payments business with the launch. Its main targets are remittance recipients and consumers in countries with high currency volatility. They can hold funds in dollar-based digital assets and use them directly on existing payment networks, Cointelegraph reported.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr