Crypto News: Western Union Plans To Broaden Its Digital Capabilities Beyond Remittances.

Western Union may be prepared to offer crypto-related services, according to trademark applications filed by the company last week.

iexclusivenews reports that this is the latest in a series of attempts by the firm to penetrate the cryptoverse. It has had limited success thus far.

This online news outlet understands that W.U filed for three trademarks on Oct. 18. According to trademark attorney Mike KKondoudi. Activities covered by the applications include managing wallets; exchanging digital assets and commodities derivatives; issuing tokens of value and brokerage and insurance services.

Western Union is a prominent provider of cross-border remittance services, and it expressed early interest in, as well as skepticism about, cryptocurrency.

It teamed with Ripple in 2015 to settle remittance payments, but the cooperation was still in the testing phase three years later.

iexclusivenews reports that Western Union declared that it would not be adding crypto transfer to its services in the near future.

Western Union, on the other hand, has continued to research and engage with electronic wallets. It collaborated with blockchain platform Coins.ph to improve its services in the Philippines, with technical assistance from Thunes.

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The international remittance market is growing more competitive. Coinbase launched a service in February that allows users to send US money and withdraw Mexican pesos to Mexico, the world’s second-largest remittance market.

This year, several other companies have entered the Mexican market, and a variety of financial inclusion solutions are also providing alternatives to traditional remittance providers.

However, iexclusivenews Nigeria reports that Western Union appears to be positioning itself to provide remittance services as well as other crypto-related services. Such as a digital asset exchange and insurance, and it may issue its own coin.

Western Union is still entering a crowded and competitive industry, where corporations like PayPal and MasterCard have lately established themselves.