Topic: Western Union - First Large Corporation To Be Killed By Bitcoin - page 2. (Read 5059 times)
Plenty of big companies have died through history, just as new corporations grow and flourish, not to sound like the Lion King but it's the corporate 'Circle of Life'. Changing technology and consumer behaviour causes both.
Regarding Western Union and any other money transfer business, these are the businesses that absolutely face the most threat from BTC. However two things need to happen before it's an issue:
1. The recipients need to be able to spend the BTC directly on goods and services (like food and rent) in predominantly third-world countries, or not get charged fortunes in converting back to Fiat.
2. BTC needs to be more stable. Unless entire economies are denominated in BTC (which will NEVER happen) then exchange rates matter and there's no point sending someone 100USD in BTC to find it's 95USD by the time they convert it back because it's value has moved.
They have been around for 160 years so they're doing something right, and clearly they adopt new tech, so they get my respect,
I don't have that much respect for a corporation that bilks immigrants for fees as high as 30% to transfer money to their families.
I'd say they're a perfect target for a bitcoin entrepreneur. If you think about it, WU is part of the global "race to the bottom" parasitic chain...
it's hard to believe a US financial institution would act unethically
i'd rather bitcoin not be tarnished by WU's name.
They have been around for 160 years so they're doing something right, and clearly they adopt new tech, so they get my respect,
I don't have that much respect for a corporation that bilks immigrants for fees as high as 30% to transfer money to their families.
I'd say they're a perfect target for a bitcoin entrepreneur. If you think about it, WU is part of the global "race to the bottom" parasitic chain...
Western Union :
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
wait it only costs me 8$ or 0$ for international wire transfers
They have been around for 160 years so they're doing something right, and clearly they adopt new tech, so they get my respect, and I'll bet my bottom dollar they won't let bitcoin slip through their fingers, cos they'll want to be around for another 160 yrs. Prolly got their legal dept, IT & product managers etc already working on it.
edit: they are certainly no slouches when it comes to tech and innovation eg "In the 1970s WUI installed and leased to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) ..... a proof of concept for the technology of packet switching which later became the Internet." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union
edit: they are certainly no slouches when it comes to tech and innovation eg "In the 1970s WUI installed and leased to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) ..... a proof of concept for the technology of packet switching which later became the Internet." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union
Western Union is looking too archaic to survive the rise of Bitcoin.
To me they look like a classic "dinosaur" corporation. They'll die with their cocks in their hands. Their CEO:
Jack M. Greenberg (born 1942) was Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation from 1999 through 2002...
Absolutely.
Its way to large and over extended to cope with the fundamental changes that Bitcoin will bring. Personally I think it's too obese to adapt and will die. 5 years until insolvency.
Western Union is looking too archaic to survive the rise of Bitcoin.
To me they look like a classic "dinosaur" corporation. They'll die with their cocks in their hands. Their CEO:
Jack M. Greenberg (born 1942) was Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation from 1999 through 2002...
If they adopt Bitcoin and provide a wallet service in countries where having your own computer is uncommon, they could gain revenue. They would potentially become the equivalent of a bank.
Yes, they could charge a fee from their current offices for changing bitcoin received into local currency. The primary communications vehicle for movement of bitcoin, though would be the smart phone. As of the end of 2012, there were as many phones in the world as there were people, and about a quarter of them were smartphones.
The problem that WU would have is that for them to act as the "Receiving End" the sender would have to send bitcoin to WU.
And why would anyone want to do that?
Otherwise, WU could offer a service which consisted of being an exchange agent for anyone walking in off the street with bitcoins on their phone. But anyone could do that - the first that comes to my mind would be the 'check cashing' stores.
Comparing the long-established almost Monopoly that WU have with a nascent game-changer like Bitcoin at this stage is not going to show BTC as the winner YET.
When your father can spend BTC locally, that is when WU will suffer unless they have adapted.
None of these bloated corps like WU or PayPal will be killed by cryptos, they'll incorporate them even if they do so in their slow, lumbering way.
When your father can spend BTC locally, that is when WU will suffer unless they have adapted.
None of these bloated corps like WU or PayPal will be killed by cryptos, they'll incorporate them even if they do so in their slow, lumbering way.
Western Union :
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
That just screams opportunity to me: if Thais set up as locabitcoin agents they can make good money and offer a faster and cheaper service than Western Union. There is mountains of room for locals in poor countries to make money by killing Western Union.
Indeed. Centralized exchanges tied to banks are only a temporary measure.
Western Union :
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
That just screams opportunity to me: if Thais set up as locabitcoin agents they can make good money and offer a faster and cheaper service than Western Union. There is mountains of room for locals in poor countries to make money by killing Western Union.
Western Union :
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
1 send btc to your father's wallet
2 your father pay a massage in bitcoin
Time: 5 minutes
Fees: 0.0005 btc
Yep... All of bitcoin's problems can be solved by looking at the world through a bitcoin lens instead of a usd (or $fiat) lens. If you do that, all of the sudden bitcoin's problems become fiat's problems. And fiat can't even be moved in reasonable timeframes.
Western Union :
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Step 1 - I send 200 euro to my father in Thailand
Step 2 - My father goes to the nearest WU office and pick up 170 euro IN CASH, 25 minutes LATER in local currency
Step 3 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 45 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
Bitcoin :
Step 1 - I send 2 BTC to my father.
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
Step 3 - My father exchange the EURO to local currency (a small tax apply)
Step 4 - My father use the cash to pay a massage, 20 minutes later.
Time : 4 days and 20 minutes
Fees : 30 euro
1 send btc to your father's wallet
2 your father pay a massage in bitcoin
Time: 5 minutes
Fees: 0.0005 btc
Western Union is looking too archaic to survive the rise of Bitcoin.
I mean, the first real-world killer app of Bitcoin is for overseas workers to send remittances back to their families without obsolete companies like Western Union stealing a large chunk of it in what amounts to an unfair tax.
What can Western Union do?
1) Adopt bitcoin and lose revenue
2) Ignore bitcoin and be made irrelevant
3) Fight bitcoin and lose
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
I mean, the first real-world killer app of Bitcoin is for overseas workers to send remittances back to their families without obsolete companies like Western Union stealing a large chunk of it in what amounts to an unfair tax.
What can Western Union do?
1) Adopt bitcoin and lose revenue
2) Ignore bitcoin and be made irrelevant
3) Fight bitcoin and lose
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
or
4) change their business model
At some point (this will be the signal that we've achieved 'adoption' and that bitcoin will never fail) one of the big-boys (payment processors) will jump on the bitcoin bandwagon. . . It would be great if it were Western Union. They could retool their entire network to use bitcoins on the backend while at the same time reducing equipment costs and increasing profits (nobody is going to bat an eyelash at paying their standard fees for moving fiat to btc or vice versa). It would also open a new line of business for them when integrating bitcoin into their billpay and other features.
The block-chain would effectively replace their own server costs for actually conducting transactions. Maybe they could slightly lower their feels across the board and be even more competitive on price (due to btc transfers being so cheap to conduct). If they also offered wallet services they would eventually cross the line from being a payment processor into effectively being the largest bank in the world (at some point) and almost immediately the largest exchange.
One of the payment processors will do this eventually... but it's up to them to decide who.
Just be careful with that bolded part. When we achieve 'adoption' is exactly when we will see the largest correction in bitcoin history. After the masses ride through the one last boot shaking crash, we can finally have some semblance of stability.
Western Union is looking too archaic to survive the rise of Bitcoin.
I mean, the first real-world killer app of Bitcoin is for overseas workers to send remittances back to their families without obsolete companies like Western Union stealing a large chunk of it in what amounts to an unfair tax.
What can Western Union do?
1) Adopt bitcoin and lose revenue
2) Ignore bitcoin and be made irrelevant
3) Fight bitcoin and lose
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
I mean, the first real-world killer app of Bitcoin is for overseas workers to send remittances back to their families without obsolete companies like Western Union stealing a large chunk of it in what amounts to an unfair tax.
What can Western Union do?
1) Adopt bitcoin and lose revenue
2) Ignore bitcoin and be made irrelevant
3) Fight bitcoin and lose
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
or
4) change their business model
At some point (this will be the signal that we've achieved 'adoption' and that bitcoin will never fail) one of the big-boys (payment processors) will jump on the bitcoin bandwagon. . . It would be great if it were Western Union. They could retool their entire network to use bitcoins on the backend while at the same time reducing equipment costs and increasing profits (nobody is going to bat an eyelash at paying their standard fees for moving fiat to btc or vice versa). It would also open a new line of business for them when integrating bitcoin into their billpay and other features.
The block-chain would effectively replace their own server costs for actually conducting transactions. Maybe they could slightly lower their feels across the board and be even more competitive on price (due to btc transfers being so cheap to conduct). If they also offered wallet services they would eventually cross the line from being a payment processor into effectively being the largest bank in the world (at some point) and almost immediately the largest exchange.
One of the payment processors will do this eventually... but it's up to them to decide who.
Western Union is looking too archaic to survive the rise of Bitcoin.
I mean, the first real-world killer app of Bitcoin is for overseas workers to send remittances back to their families without obsolete companies like Western Union stealing a large chunk of it in what amounts to an unfair tax.
What can Western Union do?
1) Adopt bitcoin and lose revenue
2) Ignore bitcoin and be made irrelevant
3) Fight bitcoin and lose
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
I mean, the first real-world killer app of Bitcoin is for overseas workers to send remittances back to their families without obsolete companies like Western Union stealing a large chunk of it in what amounts to an unfair tax.
What can Western Union do?
1) Adopt bitcoin and lose revenue
2) Ignore bitcoin and be made irrelevant
3) Fight bitcoin and lose
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
or
4) change their business model
Step 2 - My father use an exchange to sell 2 BTC for 200 USD. He withdraw the money. He receives 170 EURO (30 euro is the international transfer fee) 4 days LATER.
There are other ways to convert BTC to FIAT thatn MtGox. And besides, soon you can just spend your Bitcoins, no need for converting.
Western Union is in the living dead, the first bitcoin zombie!
It is the other way around.
Western Union can be a trusted fiat interface to Bitcoin (an exchange).
Migrant Workers send money to places with higher inflation, they but Bitcoin in developed places with relatively lower inflation.
There is a net benefit to workers, the people who get the money and a stabilizing / strengthening of the benefiting country. It doesn't server corporate interest exploiting the imbalance. (It could but it would strength the Bitcoin economy)
There is more to consider but my guess is it's a go.
Western Union is really big in Asia, so they will be an important player for Bitcoins. If I remember correctly, the CEO even mentioned Bitcoins as something they considered implementing.
I think it will happen soon. They are not stupid enough to wait till the Silicon Valley guys kill their remittance income forever.
I think it will happen soon. They are not stupid enough to wait till the Silicon Valley guys kill their remittance income forever.
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