Western Union confirms Ripple testing!

Western Union has been running trails on using Ripple blockchain technology in its payment mechanism, to become the go-to service for global money transfers.

The list of banks and financial institutions that are using and testing Ripple’s products is growing by the week. Reports state that global payments giant Western Union can be added to that list this week.

CFO Raj Agrawal told media that efforts were in a ‘testing phase’ and there was nothing so far in the process that would be a ‘big unlock.’

A Ripple spokesperson tells Yahoo Finance, “We’ve been testing different products with Western Union for a while, we’re excited about our work towards a pilot implementation of xRapid, which uses XRP in payment flows.”

Western Union CTO Sheri Rhodes’ comment states the following: “We continue to explore possible blockchain applications for our business, and we are piloting some settlement tests with Ripple for certain corridors. For blockchain in general, we’re looking at areas such as transaction processing and settlement, working capital optimization, regulatory technology, and digital identity. We have a strong platform and system that work well today, but we continue to explore and test whether these technologies could potentially reduce costs and improve the customer experience.”

It is indeed a huge boost for the blockchain company that has seen the price of its cryptocurrency plummet in recent months. On Tuesday (13th February 2018), CEO Hikmet Ersek told analysts that Western Union is experimenting with Ripple and XRP for settling transactions and for capital optimization. The move comes a month after Ripple’s dealings with rival company Moneygram, which was also testing XRP transfers.

Money-transfer businesses such as Englewood, Colorado-based Western Union typically use pre-funded accounts to fulfill customers’ transfers, which can tie up capital. Ripple’s blockchain technology and digital currency XRP could move money faster, which has helped propel a more than 33,000 percent surge in the digital token last year even though the coin isn’t essential for handling payments.

If implemented this could reinvent how banks and money transfer services make payments. Importantly, it is good news for Ripple, which is trying to become the go-to service for global money transfers.

Let's see what the results will state.