Western Union adds stablecoin card as banks push digital assets

• Key insights: Western Union and stablecoin payments platform Rain are launching Stablecard, a digital wallet and Visa secured credit card backed by Western Union's stablecoin, USDPT. 
• What's at stake: Legacy retail remittance providers such as Western Union are under pressure from new digital remittance platforms and ongoing immigration enforcement, and are turning to digital assets to better manage their margins and offer more banking services to their customers. 
• Forward look: Users will be able to receive dollar-denominated stablecoin in their digital wallet and then spend it wherever Visa is accepted, without having to worry about converting the digital asset to fiat currency. 

With payment companies and banks embracing stablecoins for cross-border transfers,Western Union is expanding its digital asset to keep consumers within its network. 

The remittance company and stablecoin payments platform Rain are launching Stablecard, a digital wallet and Visa secured credit card backed by Western Union's stablecoin, the U.S. Dollar Payment Token, or USDPT. The two companies also paired last year to launch the Digital Asset Network, Western Union's off-ramp product. 

"Stablecard represents the next step in making global financial services more accessible to our customers," Western Union President and CEO Devin McGranahan said in a statement.  USDPT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, custodied by U.S. Bank, and runs on the Solana network. 

Western Union customers will be able to receive the dollar-denominated stablecoin to their digital wallet and then spend it wherever Visa is accepted, without having to worry about converting the digital asset to fiat currency.  

Stablecard makes Western Union's stablecoin usable in the real world, according to Farooq Malik, co-founder and CEO of Rain. 

"By pairing an embedded wallet with an integrated card in a single app, customers can receive a transfer, hold it in dollars, and spend it the same day," Malik told American Banker. "Western Union's retail locations remain an important offramp, and people can still pick up cash the way they always have, but the card gives them a second option that doesn't require a trip at all."

That's an important distinction when considering broader stablecoin adoption, William Blair analyst Cristopher Kennedy said. 

"The largest hurdle to the adoption and economic feasibility of stablecoins in cross-border remittances is the on- and off-ramping of funds into spendable fiat currency," Kennedy said. "Remittance providers are well equipped with the global networks and FX expertise to help enable this function." 

Read more:

• Should a bank ever be liable when a customer gets scammed?
• OpenAI models' Hugging Face breach is a red flag for bankers
• The top-performing banks with $2B to $10B of assets in 2025
• Inside Upstart's journey to get a bank charter approval

Western Union has been placing big bets on stablecoins as CEO McGranahan looks to transition the 175-year-old firm, which started as a telecommunications company, into a digital-first shop. Western Union's retail business is being pressured by digital remittance companies such as Wise, Remitly and Flywire, and has also been impacted by ongoing immigration crackdowns that are keeping its customers away from its storefronts and will likely have lasting impacts on revenue. 

Having its own stablecoin allows Western Union to earn float revenue on the underlying assets backing its stablecoin and also manage its own compliance risk. Remittance rival MoneyGram also launched its own stablecoin. 

Western Union's Stablecard goes live in 37 markets, including in corridors where "demand for stablecoins is already visible," according to the company. Western Union plans to take the product live in more than 60 markets by the end of the year.