Global money transfer giant Western Union is preparing to roll out a so-called “stable card” aimed at consumers in high-inflation markets, Matthew Cagwin, the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer, said at the UBS Global Technology and AI Conference on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
According to documents published by Seeking Alpha, Cagwin described the product as part of the payments company's broader stablecoin strategy.
Kagwin said the stable card would be an “upgrade” to the company's existing U.S. prepaid card, but with “stronger benefits in countries with higher inflation rates.” He specifically pointed to Argentina as an example where dollar-denominated cards could help recipients preserve value, where he said inflation was between 250% and 300% last year.
“Imagine a world where your family in the U.S. sends you $500 home, but by the time you spend it the next month, it's only worth $300. So you can see the utility of stable cards there. This is an increase over the prepaid cards we currently have here in the U.S.,” Cagwin said.
Western Union joins the stablecoin space
Western Union's CFO did not provide further details, but the card is likely related to the company's partnership with stablecoin payments infrastructure company Rain, which issues Visa cards linked to stablecoins.
Rain said in November that the partnership will allow users to “convert stablecoins held in Rain-powered wallets into local cash payments at participating Western Union stores.”
The card is part of Western Union's broader effort to move more financial flows on-chain. In late October, the company announced the launch of US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), a Solana-based stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital, a US bank specializing in cryptocurrencies. The stablecoin is expected to be issued in the first half of 2026.
Kagwin said at a UBS event this week that the company has already partnered with four Digital Asset Network (DAN) providers to build on- and off-ramps, adding that stablecoins “help move away from the correspondent banking system, where transfers typically take several days,” noting that the company moves an average of $500 million every day.
“So if you could do that in more real time and your money wasn’t tied up in the process, imagine what that would mean and what you could get out of it,” Kagwin concluded.
