Western Union to begin accepting Bitcoin (WSJ)

[greyhawk]

Yes, they could blow everyone else out of the water and make an incredible amount of money in the process, but only if they have the intelligence and the balls to significantly alter their business model. Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

I don't really know how much they would have to alter their business model. They could just add bitcoin payment option via bit-pay to allow sending money with bitcoin, that would be fairly trivial. For the receiving end, they could partner with a company such as Bitinstant.

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

[JordanL]

Yes, they could blow everyone else out of the water and make an incredible amount of money in the process, but only if they have the intelligence and the balls to significantly alter their business model. Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

I don't really know how much they would have to alter their business model. They could just add bitcoin payment option via bit-pay to allow sending money with bitcoin, that would be fairly trivial. For the receiving end, they could partner with a company such as Bitinstant.

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

How often do we see complaints from people having problems buying bitcoins? I think WU has a slight edge over bitinstant.

[benjamindees]

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

[JordanL]

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

zzzz, if only everyone were as smart as you. Illegal to trade Bitcoins without them? That doesn't even make sense.

[caveden]

AFAIK, WU moves fiat around the globe, and handles currency conversion. You give them USD, and they deposit INR in some Indian account you specified, for ex.
They could potentially decrease their costs by using Bitcoin as intermediary currency. That would work particularly well if they were acting as exchanges too. They could do it incrementally, for example, at a first moment, only use BTC as intermediary for (some) USD<->EUR transactions, since the liquidity of these markets (BTC/USD and BTC/EUR) is better than any other.

[Piper67]

AFAIK, WU moves fiat around the globe, and handles currency conversion. You give them USD, and they deposit INR in some Indian account you specified, for ex.
They could potentially decrease their costs by using Bitcoin as intermediary currency. That would work particularly well if they were acting as exchanges too. They could do it incrementally, for example, at a first moment, only use BTC as intermediary for (some) USD<->EUR transactions, since the liquidity of these markets (BTC/USD and BTC/EUR) is better than any other.

WU is already a de facto exchange. If I send USD from the US, and someone in Brazil receives Reais, WU has done the exchanging (usually at a rate that is obscene to the point of vomiting). Yes, WU could maintain their business model and co-opt Bitcoin as the intermediary, as it would save them the cost associated with keeping their own WU network running, which I guess is not a trivial cost. But, as someone already mentioned, at some point it would become obvious that individuals could do exactly what WU is doing.

Now, if WU were to slightly adapt its business model to become more of a Bitinstant, and to continue to offer payment remittances as part of that business, they would save themselves a ton of money and make another ton as an exchange.

Will they do it, or even consider it? If I were a betting man, my money would be on no, but who knows, perhaps there are some enlightened souls within the WU walls who are ready to consider it.

[greyhawk]

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

zzzz, if only everyone were as smart as you. Illegal to trade Bitcoins without them? That doesn't even make sense.

He didn't say "trade". He said "buy/sell". World of a difference. And yes, illegality of operating as an exchange without being licensed to operate as an exchange is a very real possibility.

[JordanL]

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

zzzz, if only everyone were as smart as you. Illegal to trade Bitcoins without them? That doesn't even make sense.

He didn't say "trade". He said "buy/sell". World of a difference. And yes, illegality of operating as an exchange without being licensed to operate as an exchange is a very real possibility.

I used trade as shorthand for buy/sell, I apologize for any confusion.


"illegality of operating as an exchange without being licensed to operate as an exchange is a very real possibility"


What??? You lost me. If your company has to be licensed to operate an exchange... that hasn't nothing to do with whether WU is operating one or not. The more competition, the better. For such a decentralized economy we sure do seem to rely on mtgox a lot.   

[herzmeister]

Could be a joke but I doubt it. Would not surprise me if WU were the instigator in getting FinCEN to get some guidelines published.

buy the rumor,...  

[Bitcoinpro]

bitcoin is the dissolution of banks, money transfer corporations government printing presses and embodies the true definition of "you cannot stop and idea who's time has come"
 

[lebing]

This was her response "David Thompson said he's interested in developing partnerships for digital currency efforts." Which seems pretty clear that they do not want to create a competitor...

[Mark Oates]

This was her response "David Thompson said he's interested in developing partnerships for digital currency efforts." Which seems pretty clear that they do not want to create a competitor...

Not necessarily.  It's possible to interpret that as "developing partnerships with companies for creating our digital currency."

[glub0x]

Honestly this might depend on a very few poeple.
I was to think that they would hate bitcoin, but if the head of WU is a clever and open minded guy, i have no doubt that they can find a business model that will make them fire a few poeple and save loads amount of money.
And this is a very good argument for a company.

So wait and see!

[Minor Miner]

We need to be lobbying for them to adopt Bitcoin.

/facepalm

Noooooo, please let him do it. Those are always amusing.

BTC-User: "Hey WU, please take Bitcoins, ok?"
WU: "What is a bitcoin and why should we accept it?"
BTC-User: "It is a new currency that's intended to get rid of banks and other currency transaction providers. It'll be great. Everyone will be one's own bank."
WU: "So what you're saying is we should accept a currency that's specifically built to put us out of business by circumventing us in the first place."
BTC-User: "Yes, exactly. It will be wonderful. Hello? Hellllooooo? SirMadam? Where are you going? FUCKING HATERS. WE'LL SHOW YOU!"

Finally, someone seems to understand what corps do when they find something the "overcomes" the barriers to entry they have put up in their industry.  Their lobbyists now know about this threat and will work on the ways to destroy it.   BTC MUST get into circulation fast.   We need a way that the common man can use this easy and become comfortable with it.   BTC miners should become the VC of the BTC economy (it is in their own interest).

[Mark Oates]

Ok, just got confirmation from multiple sources via email and twitter. They are looking to develop partnerships, so its a go. I'll update the thread again  Cheesy

lebing, would you post the emails and tweets here for us?

[lebing]

Ok, just got confirmation from multiple sources via email and twitter. They are looking to develop partnerships, so its a go. I'll update the thread again  Cheesy

lebing, would you post the emails and tweets here for us?

its all in here

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1bi8q3/western_union_may_offer_digital_currency_services/

[mobile4ever]

Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

Large corporations like WU can not change rapidly. They have the legal, administrative... etc. to deal with.

[cypherdoc]

Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

Large corporations like WU can not change rapidly. They have the legal, administrative... etc. to deal with.

don't forget the biggest obstacle; overhead.

[Gordonium]

http://mashable.com/2013/04/02/western-union-bitcoin/

Mashable is now reporting about it also.

[Piper67]

http://mashable.com/2013/04/02/western-union-bitcoin/

Mashable is now reporting about it also.

Wow. Unless WU comes out in the next few hours to deny this, this will be huge!