Confirmed: Western Union testing Ripple’s XRP

|

Nigel Frith
Nigel Frith
Former Global General Manager
Nigel was the Global General Manager at FXcompared. Nigel has a background in marketing for businesses and consumers as well working in a variety of online financial services roles. Read more
  • Western Union assessment of XRP officially underway
  • No formal partnership yet

International payments giant Western Union has confirmed that it is testing money transfers using technology from cryptocurrency platform Ripple.

The company’s Chief Finance Officer Raj Agrawal told Bloomberg News this week that the use of Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency was still in a “testing phase” and at this stage there was nothing to indicate a “big unlock” imminently.

Speculation gathered considerable momentum in January that a possible partnership between Ripple and Western Union may be in the offing. Ripple maintains the blockchain for XRP, a currency that attracted global attention among currency watchers at the start of the year when its value soared to USD $3 per token, shortly before nosediving. Since then, prices for the currency have crept back over the $1 mark during Asian trade.

In the immediate wake of Agrawal’s announcement, XRP tokens showed little change in value. To date, Ripple has forged an impressive network of global banks that are all engaged in trialling its platform. Its most recent deal was inked last week with foreign exchange colossus UAE Exchange to help enable cross-border payments. That arrangement is with the Ripple company itself (UAE Exchange is not yet willing to use XRP tokens directly).

Last month, Ripple announced that it had secured two more money transfers firms to its client roster.

But this week’s announcement by Mr Agrawal marks the first official confirmation that Western Union, by far the world’s best-known money transfers firm, is indeed experimenting with Ripple’s technology. The development does not exactly represent a formal partnership, but evidence of joint engagement.

The news broke at virtually the same time that Western Union reported its full-year earnings from 2017, which marked a not-to-be-scoffed-at increase in revenue of 5%, taking the total to $1.4bn.

Shares in Western Union closed at $19.75 on the day of Agrawal’s announcement (14 February 2018), representing a dip of 0.10%.


Most Read

Use Our Currency Comparison Tool

Results are ranked in order of the best overall deal, taking into account transfer times, rates, fees, and customer service.

Editor's Choice

FXcompared.com is an fx money comparison site for international money transfer and to compare rates from currency brokers for sending money abroad. The website and the information provided is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation or advice on any financial service or transaction. None of the information presented is intended to form the basis for any investment decision, and no specific recommendations are intended.  FXC Group Ltd and FX Compared Ltd does not provide any guarantees of any data from third parties listed on this website. FX compared Ltd expressly disclaims any and all responsibility for any direct or consequential loss or damage of any kind whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from (i) any error, omission or inaccuracy in any such information or (ii) any action resulting therefrom.