In one of its largest forays into blockchain-based payments, Western Union has collaborated with stablecoin infrastructure provider Rain to introduce Stablecard, a digital wallet and Visa-branded card that allows users to retain and spend a US dollar-backed stablecoin.
Western Union said on Wednesday that Stablecard enables customers to retain, receive, send, and spend USDPT, a stablecoin backed by the US dollar that is created on the Solana blockchain by Anchorage Digital Bank.
Western Union’s Stablecard is live.
Remittances can now arrive as stablecoins and be spent instantly anywhere Visa is accepted.
Mobile app, embedded wallets, and cards powered by Rain.
$100B a year for 100M customers is moving onchain. pic.twitter.com/8ztx2L9ypO
— Rain (@raincards) August 4, 2026
Stablecard was introduced in 37 markets, and by the end of the year, Western Union hopes to have it available in over 60 markets. Users may send money to compatible cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, receive Western Union money transfers straight into a USDPT wallet, and spend their balances anywhere Visa is accepted, including through Apple Pay and Google Pay.
As stablecoins gain popularity for cross-border payments, the launch represents Western Union’s attempt to increase its position in the worldwide remittance industry. The program allows customers and remittance recipients in nations with unstable local currencies to save funds in a digital asset guaranteed by the dollar while making purchases via pre-existing payment networks.
As part of its larger digital asset plan, Western Union introduced USDPT in May, characterizing it as a stablecoin created to conform to the framework set out by the GENIUS Act, a newly passed US law that establishes federal regulations for the production and management of payment stablecoins. Through exchange partnerships, the company has already broadened the token’s ecosystem; in June, Bybit added support for USDPT transfers and trading.
As consumers want for quicker and less expensive alternatives to existing remittance services, especially in Africa and South America, stablecoins are progressively changing cross-border payments.
Established money transfer businesses have expanded into digital assets as a result of the trend. MoneyGram, a competitor of Western Union, just introduced MGUSD, a stablecoin on the Stellar network that is tied to the US dollar. Through a self-custodial wallet, the token is intended to interface with the MoneyGram app, enabling users to keep dollar-denominated balances, send money internationally, and exchange it for local currencies as needed.
Stablecoins aren’t a perfect remittance option, though. Stablecoin-based remittances did not regularly beat traditional payment methods in terms of cost or time, according to a recent Bank of Italy research. The majority of the remaining friction was ascribed by the researchers to fiat currency on- and off-ramps, where the majority of transaction costs and settlement delays were caused by converting between bank deposits, cash, and digital assets.
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