Western Union is moving into stablecoins as part of a broader push to modernize how it settles payments across its vast global network — a potentially big shift for the 175-year-old remittance giant. On its Q1 earnings call, CEO Devin McGranahan said Western Union’s U.S. dollar stablecoin, USDPT, is in the final stages of readiness and is expected to launch next month. The token, first announced in October, will run on Solana (SOL) and be issued with federally chartered crypto bank Anchorage Digital. Crucially, Western Union isn’t rolling out USDPT as a consumer-facing product at first. “We are not originally launching [USDPT] as consumer-facing,” McGranahan said. Instead, the company plans to use the stablecoin as an alternative settlement rail for its interbank flows — essentially bypassing parts of the traditional SWIFT-driven settlement network it relies on today. That could allow Western Union to settle with agents and partners in real time, including on weekends and holidays, and cut down on the capital tied up by legacy banking rails that often settle only on business days and can take two to three days in some markets. The stablecoin is only one component of Western Union’s crypto strategy. The firm is also building a Digital Asset Network (DAN) designed to let crypto wallet providers offer Western Union as a cash-out option. Through DAN, wallet users would be able to convert digital assets into local currency using Western Union’s retail footprint. McGranahan said the company’s partner pipeline represents “tens of millions” of crypto wallets worldwide. Later this year, Western Union plans to introduce a Stable Card that allows customers to hold funds in stablecoins and spend via traditional card networks. The CEO highlighted the card’s appeal in inflation-sensitive markets where consumers want U.S. dollar-denominated value with everyday spending functionality: “We expect to begin rolling this out across dozens of markets with an initial wave targeted for later this year.” Western Union’s stablecoin and cash-out ambitions come as its core remittance business faces mounting pressure from fintechs and crypto-native payments firms leveraging blockchain rails. Competitors are already experimenting with similar approaches — MoneyGram has moved toward Circle’s USDC, while Stripe has developed its own payments-focused chain and stablecoin infrastructure via Tempo. If successful, Western Union’s plan could reshape how one of the world’s largest money-movers settles cross-border flows, using digital dollars to reduce settlement times and operational friction across its global agent network. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news