The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been working on a new pilot program with Ripple Labs. This is the first time the company is looking towards real-time payment solutions. Western Union throughout its history, has been working with the same strategy of transferring money through banks, for a very long time. The new program will allow Western Union to make use Ripple’s real-time settlement infrastructure and integrate it in its own business plans.
The interesting thing to note here is that WU’s Chief Information Officer, John Thompson, had criticized the Ripple Labs program as an “unprepared technology for the financial markets.” Now it seems that Western Union has decided to catch up with the ever changing payment markets and it is ready to take such risks. Additionally, Ripple Labs has been receiving a number of positive coverage of the news and media. As per the latest reports, Ripple Labs has hired leading Wall Street veterans for its board. The CEO of Western Union, Hikmet Ersek, had agreed to accept Bitcoin technology. However, the technology should be properly regulatory authorities.
Ripple Labs has also been involved with financial networks and institutions to provide real-time settlements in all currencies to lower liquidity. Western Union is, however, still focused on a watch and learns approach. This still does not mean that the company would let go of its traditional approaches. Western Union renewed its contract with the U.S. Bank, one of the top five banks in America.
Under the new terms, the customers of the banks would be able to make use of Western Union services through mobile banking, online banking and the bank branches. Western Union’s VP, Carter Hunt, expressed pleasure at the extension of the contract. He promised the same kind of customer service and innovation that had become an integral part of the company. Whether Ripple Labs is a part of these innovations, remains to be seen.
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) closed at $21.25, reporting no change on May 1. The company has 521.45 million shares in the market, with a 52-week range of $15.31-$21.97.
