Western Union’s WU EDGE B2C Platform Competes with Bitcoin

 Western Union has launched a new service WU EDGE that allows  businesses to receive cross-border payments from customers within  minutes. Read more..  

 Competition from the digital currency sector has forced Western Union  to introduce new fee-free network payment structure called WU EDGE. The  new platform is slated to enable transactions between two parties in a  matter of minutes. With WU EDGE, Western Union (NYSE : WU) intends  to compete with Bitcoin-based remittance and payments platforms that  have been offering instant transfers since their introduction. However,  there are currency exchange charges applicable for transactions over WU EDGE. 

WU EDGE, an Attempt to Keep up with Bitcoin

Until recently, there were limited options available for people to  send money across geographical boundaries. Those away from their  families; working in different countries; businesses working with  international clients; and freelancers working on projects for those in  other parts of the world, were all made to either execute a wire  transfer from their bank accounts or use other centralized remittance  services like the Western Union and MoneyGram (NASDAQ:MGI).  In both the cases, the customer was forced to bear transaction charges  and currency conversion fees. Depending upon the transaction size, these  charges can turn out to be a small fortune. However, things have  changed in the remittance market since bitcoin and other digital  currencies made an appearance. Bitcoin has disrupted the banking and financial sector with fast and  inexpensive transactions, which combined with the other far-reaching  applications of its underlying blockchain technology make automation of  banking and financial operations possible. Being an open source, peer to  peer platform for value transfer, Bitcoin has allowed many companies to  come up with their own remittance services as a cheaper and a more  economical alternative to conventional services like the Western Union. The WU EDGE (Western Union Enterprise Digital Global Exchange)  platform is built by Western Union Business Solutions, the business arm  of Western Union Company. Currently available in 7 countries viz., Hong  Kong, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic,  the platform is open only for businesses. In a quote, the President of Western Union Business Solutions Kerry Agiasotis says, 

“Buying and selling overseas has never been easier, it’s  now possible to make an international business payment in minutes… Since  the launch of the WU EDGE platform businesses across the world have  used the platform to support their aspirations to grow, invest and  deliver the jobs of the future. We are very proud of today’s  announcement; we view ourselves as business partners to our SME  customers.”

WU EDGE platform is looking forward to connecting buyers and sellers  across the world to offer real-time connections and payments. Whereas,  Bitcoin allows everyone to make transactions irrespective of whether the  parties are individuals or businesses. We can see more platforms, coming up with similar features to keep up  with the digital currency based financial services, which continue to  offer a bargain over conventional ones. 

Source:newsbtc.com