2013-10-23 Western Union Says Bitcoin Not Ready For Primetime

[row5_seat47]

At the eighth annual Western Union Consumer Protection & Compliance Conference held September 18th, 2013, Jay Postma, CAMS, President, MSB Compliance Inc. and  Scott Apodaca, CAMS, Senior Manager, Western Union gave a presentation entitled “Emerging Risk of Digital Currency (E-Currency / Bitcoin / Liberty Reserve) [PDF link].”
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/7692/western-union-says-bitcoin-not-ready-for-primetime/

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[zeroday]

Heh. What else would they say? Bitcoin is their doom.

[BitAddict]

Yeah, better send money with Western Union...

Last time I had to send with them they charged me 4% fees, plus I lost nearly 2h to send it because software was not working at that moment...
Also my partner couldn't take money because they fail entering info, they typed name on surname and surname on name.

Also you can only send and receive 3,000€ every 3 months...

They have nothing to do against bitcoin.

[Anon136]

Heh. What else would they say? Bitcoin is their doom.

it sure was nice of the bitcoin foundation to go and rub some salt in those wounds

[Singlebyte]

Wasn't the horse and buggy industry saying the same thing about automobiles?

[odolvlobo]

I can see that none of you even looked at the presentation. If you read the presentation, you will see that it is very neutral, and perhaps even a little pro-bitcoin because it acknowledges many of the advantages of Bitcoin. The reasons it gives for saying it is not "ready for prime time" (regarding international money transfer) are accurate:

Worldwide use of bitcoin is growing
- but there is not sufficient use and liquidity yet for massive adoption
Also, consumer interfaces to bitcoin are not sufficiently mature yet
- ease of use, clarity of transactions, taxation issues, etc.
And…many regulatory issues yet to be adequately addressed

[Puppet]

I can see that none of you even looked at the presentation. If you read the presentation, you will see that it is very neutral, and perhaps even a little pro-bitcoin because it acknowledges many of the advantages of Bitcoin. The reasons it gives for saying it is not "ready for prime time" (regarding international money transfer) are accurate:

Exactly. Moreover bitcoin is not necessarily an enemy of WU. Its also potentially a huge business opportunity for them. For instance, its great that bitcoin allows immigrant workers to send remittances home at no fee, but its pointless if the people back home dont have the required PC skills and access to a bitcoin exchange and bankaccount. WU could just cash out the bitcoins for them, they have a huge presence just about everywhere that matters.

[de3mka]

Its also potentially a huge business opportunity for them.

This. Too bad they don't understand they can optimize their back-end to use bitcoin to transfer value between subsidiaries (WU nodes). When they realize the benefits there will be another company offering the same service with lower commission.

[Puppet]

Its also potentially a huge business opportunity for them.

This. Too bad they don't understand they can optimize their back-end to use bitcoin to transfer value between subsidiaries (WU nodes). When they realize the benefits there will be another company offering the same service with lower commission.

Im pretty sure WU sees this too. As does paypal btw, its definately not incompatible with bitcoin either.
But as they point out, its too early for them to get involved.

[Erdogan]

They are right you know - it is next week.

[Mike Hearn]

The slides are pretty good. Kudos to Jay and Scott. I might use the first parts for my own presentations from now on.

I like the way they describe Bitcoin as "good money" (no chargebacks). I've never seen this term before, but the way it's used makes it sound like a piece of jargon with a standardised definition.

The assessment of the FinCEN guidance is spot on.

The second part is unfortunate. It appears to assume that all "e-currency" transactions are inherently criminal. Perhaps that reflects their prior experience.

[LiteCoinGuy]

i like this article. alot of nice little pieces of big companys that noticed bitcoin and its potential.

[qwk]

Its also potentially a huge business opportunity for them.

This. Too bad they don't understand they can optimize their back-end to use bitcoin to transfer value between subsidiaries (WU nodes). When they realize the benefits there will be another company offering the same service with lower commission.

Absolutely. If they decide to move quickly, they may as well be the one company to profit the most from bitcoin.
They have precisely the kind of infrastructure to make inexpensive remittance with bitcoins happen.
That's a Billion-Dollar-industry where right now they have a lot of competition.
Being the first-mover in this area will ensure a huge piece of the pie when it comes to future market share.

[TraderTimm]

Western Union is making the same monumental mistake that Microsoft did when it ignored the Internet.

They'll come crying later, when they notice their international wire traffic plummeting.

[odolvlobo]

Exactly. Moreover bitcoin is not necessarily an enemy of WU. Its also potentially a huge business opportunity for them. For instance, its great that bitcoin allows immigrant workers to send remittances home at no fee, but its pointless if the people back home dont have the required PC skills and access to a bitcoin exchange and bankaccount. WU could just cash out the bitcoins for them, they have a huge presence just about everywhere that matters.

I think Puppet has the right idea, but I'm betting that WU will use Bitcoin internally to transfer funds, without customers knowing or caring. It will save them a ton of money.

I think that is why they say it is not ready for prime time -- bitcoin is not yet big enough to support them.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

I think that is why they say it is not ready for prime time -- bitcoin is not yet big enough to support them.

I think it means they are buying some with their personal money, but they are not implementing it into their business model yet  .

[somestranger]

I think they will change their minds in a couple years, otherwise they are going to disappear.

[balanghai]

Emerging Risk of Digital Currency to their business. It will be their doom.

[ranmn7]

Sounds to me like there is an opportunity here to set up a competitive service.

Say a network of bitcoin users get together and offer exchanges to local currencies world wide.

Makes me wish I had the capital to start up a venture of this nature. Someone will I'm certain as soon as there is enough confidence in the use of Bitcoins for this type of exchange.

[Anon136]

Sounds to me like there is an opportunity here to set up a competitive service.

Say a network of bitcoin users get together and offer exchanges to local currencies world wide.

Makes me wish I had the capital to start up a venture of this nature. Someone will I'm certain as soon as there is enough confidence in the use of Bitcoins for this type of exchange.

im down. ill act as a gateway. get some more people together.

[Puppet]

Without being licensed as money transmitter? Good luck.

[prophetx]

Without being licensed as money transmitter? Good luck.

You all are missing the point... think of how all those western union locations are licensed...

Agent/franchise model.

Still am in disbelief no one in bitcoin land has figured this out.  

Hire a guy with an MBA and a lawyer and get them to work setting it up, it isnt rocket science... dont you think 711 would offer bitcoin if they could make an extra 1% on transfers vs offering WU... you bet they would...

By the time the dumb dumbs at WU realize this is going to hurt their business they will pay mega bucks to acquire the company, just like when Time Warner bought AOL which was a ridiculous deal

I bet you can even train a monkey to take cash for bitcoins, scan qr codes and press send

[C. Bergmann]

Anyone noticed the phrase "Not ready"? Think we all agree about that. Now WU is on our side regarding the future of payment

[Anon136]

just keep it small and quiet. advertize with word of mouth. we can build a network of ordinary people who just drive to meet customers. Mexicans arn't going to tattle tale on you to the cops.

[Hfleer]

I think they just don't like a competitor with no expenses, hard to compete.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Anyone noticed the phrase "Not ready"? Think we all agree about that. Now WU is on our side regarding the future of payment

thought the same! thats a good point