Western Union taps Noah for stablecoin remittance service

Western Union has selected Noah to provide the infrastructure for its Receiver Redirect stablecoin transfer service, expanding its push into digital asset-based remittances across more than 200 countries and territories.

The service is designed to let customers send funds through Western Union's global network and receive them as USDPT stablecoins in a Western Union wallet. It will support transfers in more than 60 currencies and is aimed at Western Union's customer base of more than 150 million people, alongside its network of more than half a million agent locations.

USDPT is a US dollar stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank on Solana. Under the arrangement, Noah will provide the infrastructure used to move funds between fiat currencies over stablecoin rails.

Receiver Redirect will allow consumers to send funds from agent locations worldwide and let recipients collect the value in stablecoins through a wallet linked to Western Union's Stablecard product. Users will also be able to hold USDPT in that wallet.

The deal marks a notable step for one of the largest established remittance groups as stablecoins gain wider use in cross-border payments. Western Union handles more than USD $100 billion a year in fund transfers, and the new service targets parts of the global remittance market that the World Bank values at USD $905 billion annually.

Remittance push

International consumer money transfers have long been criticised for delays and high charges, particularly on lower-value payments. Moving transactions onto stablecoin rails could cut settlement times from days to hours and lower fees from about 6% of the transfer value to a much smaller share.

Noah said its role will include the treasury functions and licensing needed to pre-fund, convert and distribute USDPT to recipients. It added that its system is intended to support local regulatory compliance for transfers made through the service.

The move also shows how incumbent payments groups are testing digital assets in practical settings rather than treating them solely as speculative instruments. Stablecoins, which are designed to maintain a fixed value against a conventional currency, have become a more common tool in cross-border settlement because they can move across blockchain networks without relying on traditional correspondent banking chains.

Industry figures cited by the companies suggest business-to-business stablecoin volume reached an annualised USD $226 billion in 2026, up 733%. They added that stablecoins still account for less than 1% of global cross-border business-to-business flows, indicating room for further expansion if adoption continues.

For Western Union, the partnership fits a broader effort to add digital asset options to a network historically centred on cash pick-up and bank-linked transfers. The company already connects bank accounts, digital wallets and cards in many markets, and the stablecoin route gives customers another way to receive and store value.

Malcolm Clarke, Global Head of Digital Assets at Western Union, described the service as a new delivery option tied directly to the group's wallet product.

"Customers increasingly want greater flexibility in how they receive, hold and use money," Clarke said.

"This new capability is a global first, taking a Western Union money transfer and delivering it directly into the customer's Stablecard wallet in USDPTTM stablecoin, creating a seamless connection between our global money movement network and our digital asset ecosystem," he added.

Shah Ramezani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Noah, said the partnership reflected a wider shift in how international transfers are handled.

"The international movement of money through traditional banks is slow, expensive and no longer fit for purpose. Stablecoin opens up a new, faster and cheaper way to move funds globally. Western Union is not just one of the world's leading money transfer companies, but a visionary in its early adoption of stablecoin. This is a watershed moment for the future of stablecoin and sends a real signal the market has shifted. We're proud to provide the banking infrastructure behind Receiver Redirect, and to power the next era of international remittances for Western Union," Ramezani said.