Bitcoin is killing Western Union!

[wachtwoord]

Every time this thread pops up in my new posts feed I hear Kim Dotcom (Schmidt) saying: "The government is killing innovation. Don't let them get away with that!"

[nobbynobbynoob]

Bitcoin has a lot to do before that happens. Goverments want to track money, and will destroy every possibility for anonimity before they let it be the next WU.

They can only control the fiat exchange points (and even that's tricky in the OTC market). Once bitcoin has enough traction to remove the (partial) necessity for fiat conversion, poof! censorship-resistant transfer of value.

[mel2000]

I e-mail money to someone using Coinbase.  It asks them to sign up with an account to retrieve the money.  Not that difficult.

Coinbase requires documentation and time in order to start doing money-handling transactions with them.  I don't think Coinbase offers money handling transactions on the same day one applies for their account. WU only requires cash and a driver's license (in the USA).

As evidenced by people in this thread, it is WAY harder to use Western Union or even Paypal.

WU caters to people who want to move money in an emergency without a computer or without a prior money handling broker account. Bitcoins and WU aren't even real competitors at this point. I still think PayPal is more WU competition right now than Bitcoins.

[leoragraves666]

Bitcoin has a lot to do before that happens. Goverments want to track money, and will destroy every possibility for anonimity before they let it be the next WU.

They can only control the fiat exchange points (and even that's tricky in the OTC market). Once bitcoin has enough traction to remove the (partial) necessity for fiat conversion, poof! censorship-resistant transfer of value.

Sadly I don't think they will let that happen.

[RodeoX]

... And then you win.

 

the game? 

Yes.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
- Mahatma Gandhi

[herzmeister]

so far, Bitcoin rather brings WU a lot of business.

Lots of trades on localbitcoins.com go over WU (no, don't ask me why).

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

WU presentation on digital currencies given on Sept 13 2013 at Consumer Protection & Compliance conference:

https://events.westernunion.com/WUComplianceConference/presentations/2013/EmergingRiskofDigitalCurrency.pdf

[LiteCoinGuy]

Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet

http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/

[AndrewWilliams]

Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet

http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/

That's because they feel it would not be easy enough to prevent money laundering at this point....

[RodeoX]

Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet

http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/

Let's just ignore the fact that it has been used for years for just that purpose.  
If WU were half as smart as they are greedy, they would realize that they could capture the bitcoin market in America.  

[leoragraves666]

Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet

http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/

That's because they feel it would not be easy enough to prevent money laundering at this point....

 This is very correct but I don't think that would happen, people who do money laundering would rather not present their documents, and with WU it is required.

[gollum]

Lol what a title - Killing Western Union!
No way Jose! Theyr not killing WU today or tommorow, but over time cryptocurrencies will threaten the business model of WU if they don't start to use cryptocurrencies as well.
If WU starts to offer bitcoins to their clients through their worldwide dealers, it would be a huge win-win both for WU and for bitcoin.

[BitchicksHusband]

I can't believe no one mentioned the fact that WU has already said they're looking into incorporating Bitcoin into their business model.

So did PayPal about 6 months ago.  So where is it?  I'll believe it when I see it.

[BitchicksHusband]

so far, Bitcoin rather brings WU a lot of business.

Lots of trades on localbitcoins.com go over WU (no, don't ask me why).

Non-reversible?

[BitchicksHusband]

I e-mail money to someone using Coinbase.  It asks them to sign up with an account to retrieve the money.  Not that difficult.

Coinbase requires documentation and time in order to start doing money-handling transactions with them.  I don't think Coinbase offers money handling transactions on the same day one applies for their account. WU only requires cash and a driver's license (in the USA).

Yes.  You can send people bitcoins at any e-mail address, even if they don't have an account.  If they don't sign up and hook up a US bank account in 60 days, you get the coins back.  Most people in the US have e-mail and a bank account.

As I said, once both parties have accounts, you can use e-mail or phone number to send money back and forth instantly for free (no tx fees if within the Coinbase network).  And you can even use an SMS text instead.

And once they go into other countries, it becomes just as easy to send money to anyone in the world.

(Just a customer, but I think this is huge for adoption.)

[gaston909]

I still find it a bit shocking that it takes so long for WU to be replaced. It is a terrible service and only used because some people had no other choice.

[LiteCoinGuy]

I can't believe no one mentioned the fact that WU has already said they're looking into incorporating Bitcoin into their business model.

iam impressed by this fact