extinguishing Western union - page 5.

jbrnt

hero member

Activity: 672

Merit: 500

Quote from: eerygarden on July 17, 2015, 05:47:10 PM

"We are going to see bitcoin impacting remittances long before we see it impacting retail. We are not going shopping with bitcoin, we are taking out Western union."
https://youtu.be/SEJGFY0iDUw

This is so true. The best of all is that the ultimate solution is already here. All they need is a two-way Bitcoin ATM in both countries and Western union is dead! Foreign workers feed fiat on one end, send Bitcoin to the family's address. Wait for a few confirmations. The family relay the coins to another ATM at home and cash is home within 2 hours (time for confirmations).

yayayo

legendary

Activity: 1806

Merit: 1024

Quote from: eerygarden on July 17, 2015, 05:47:10 PM

"We are going to see bitcoin impacting remittances long before we see it impacting retail. We are not going shopping with bitcoin, we are taking out Western union."

Western Union will be replaced for sure, because they can't compete cost-wise with the entirely free infrastructure of Bitcoin. Though it remains to be seen how fast. WU can lower their margins and slow down customer drain.

In my opinion omnipresent possibilities to shop with Bitcoin would be a huge leap forward and would actually speed up adoption in the remittance market as well. The reason is simple: If you don't have to convert your Bitcoin anymore to buy things, a whole step in the remittance process becomes obsolete and any conversion fee will be eliminated. There will be absolutely no remaining economical difference in global vs. local transactions.

So the key to Bitcoin succeeding in remittance is the same as for Bitcoin succeeding in general: Acceptance by businesses (esp. brick-and-mortar businesses).

ya.ya.yo!

gentlemand

legendary

Activity: 2590

Merit: 3015

Welt Am Draht

Quote from: eerygarden on July 17, 2015, 05:47:10 PM

He mentions that UK to the Philippines is a major remittance route and bitcoin ATMs are facilitating this today and hints at a 1% fee but I believe that bitcoin ATMs have higher margins than this. If this is happening, where is it happening and how can we speed it up?

The Philippines seems to be a hotbed of BTC activity compared to elsewhere. It's humming along.

https://www.goabra.com/ seems to be pushing the remittance angle. I've no idea how many people they've signed up and it's pretty interesting that there's virtually no mention of Bitcoin anywhere but I'll be keen to see how far they get.

Possum577

sr. member

Activity: 434

Merit: 250

Loose lips sink sigs!

Absolutely true! How many immigrants send money home from developed countries (UK, US, EU, etc.) to their home country? Millions...and that means hundreds of millions of dollars is flowing through these transmitter services. Bitcoin can absolutely provide a better option - lower fees, easier transaction, faster transaction, potential for asset appreciation.

eerygarden

sr. member

Activity: 406

Merit: 250

I am quite a fan of Andreas Antonopolous. I have seen numerous videos of him on YouTube and his enthusiasm for bitcoin is fantastic. I have heard him say before that bitcoin is a threat to Western union and in the latest video I watched of him (brilliant BTW) he again mentioned Western union.

"We are going to see bitcoin impacting remittances long before we see it impacting retail. We are not going shopping with bitcoin, we are taking out Western union."
https://youtu.be/SEJGFY0iDUw

He mentions that UK to the Philippines is a major remittance route and bitcoin ATMs are facilitating this today and hints at a 1% fee but I believe that bitcoin ATMs have higher margins than this. If this is happening, where is it happening and how can we speed it up?

Topic: extinguishing Western union - page 5. (Read 3274 times)