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Odilon Almeida, a president of Western Union with an exclusive interview on December 17, said that they are "ready to adopt any kind of currency," and they are ready to add crypto as a payment option.
Odilon Almeida was quoted as saying "Western Union is ready today to adopt any kind of currency. We already operate with 130 currencies. If we one day feel like it's the right strategy to introduce cryptocurrencies to our platform, technology-wise it's just one more currency. I think cryptocurrency may become one more option of currency, or assets, around the globe to be exchanged between people and businesses. If that happens, we will be ready to launch. "
Odilon Almeida has stated that there is a vast lineup of currencies, and there is no difference between cryptocurrencies and regular digital payments, adding crypto to its existing line-up of currencies.
Almeida thinks that the company is placed in a very comfortable position where it can bridge the gap between cash and crypto. He added that he has access to billions of bank accounts and over a million retail agent locations.
Since 2015, Western Union has been actively testing Ripple's cross-border payment technology. Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek said that the company's tests were with children in stage and possibly "too small" to draw firm conclusions.
However, Almeida strongly believes that in the sense of volatility, governance and compliance with cryptocurrencies needs to be solved. As for one of the Western Union executives, the issue of volatility in the crypto markets can be solved by attaching coins to some "strong currencies, such as the [United States] dollar. "
Western Union is also exploring the use of blockchain in addition to cryptocurrencies. As for a press release, the company has already joined hands with Ripple to "test whether sending payments by blockchain was faster and less expensive," adding that the "tests are ongoing."
The company's CEO, Hikmet Ersek, earlier in June 2018 had said that Western Union will not add to a cryptocurrency transfer solution to its services anytime soon. He had added that "The consumers tell us what they want. Cryptos, "But in the last few months, the Western Union has been changed considerably.
As Almeida explains in the company's blog post, "Cryptocurrencies have been able to achieve broad acceptance because they have yet to master three things: governance, compliance, and volatility. It is already better equipped to solve for these variables because it moves into all of those three challenges. "
