Western Union, the U.S.-based cross-border money transfer company, has confirmed a launch timeline for its dollar-backed stablecoin and outlined two related products that will sit on top of it.
On the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call held on April 24, President and CEO Devin McGranahan said the USD Payment Token (USDPT), a Solana-based stablecoin, is in the final stages of preparation and is expected to launch in May.
The company is also activating a Digital Asset Network connecting crypto wallets to its retail network, and has flagged plans for a USD Stable Card aimed at consumers later in 2026.
“It is no longer a question of if Western Union will be active in digital assets; it is now how fast we can scale,” McGranahan told analysts on the call. “At the foundation of our strategy is USDPT, our U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.”
USDPT will be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, a federally chartered crypto custodian, and run on Solana, a high-throughput blockchain. Western Union first revealed the project in October 2025 through a press release announcing the partnership with Anchorage and Solana, and has separately filed a trademark for “WUUSD” earlier this year.
USDPT to start as agent settlement tool, not retail product
In the Q&A portion of the earnings call, McGranahan said USDPT will not initially be launched as a consumer-facing stablecoin. Instead, it will be used as an alternative to SWIFT, the global interbank messaging network, for moving funds between Western Union and its agent partners.
According to McGranahan, the pilot will roll out in select countries with key agent partners. On-chain settlement is intended to deliver faster processing, including across weekends and traditional banking holidays when SWIFT rails are closed, and to reduce float and pre-funding requirements at agent locations. The company has previously said USDPT will allow it to “own the economics linked to stablecoins,” referring to revenue from issuance, exchange spreads, transaction fees, and float on reserves that would otherwise go to a third-party stablecoin issuer.
According to the Q1 2026 investor presentation report, Western Union has framed USDPT around five customer attributes, which are digital payments access for the underbanked, global accessibility, USD price stability, 24/7 availability, and a familiar brand.
On the internal side, the stated objectives are reduced settlement costs, competitive differentiation, new business lines, addressable market expansion, and float opportunity.
Digital Asset Network goes live this week with first wallet partner
Alongside USDPT, Western Union is launching what it calls the Digital Asset Network, or DAN. According to the investor presentation, DAN gives crypto wallets worldwide access to Western Union’s global network for funds-in and funds-out via a single API. The first DAN partner is going live this week in April 2026, with seven or more partners expected to activate through the rest of the year.
“Through DAN, millions of wallet users will be able to move from digital assets into local currency using Western Union’s retail network with an experience that is simple for customers and familiar for our agents,” McGranahan said.
Western Union operates a retail and agent network spanning more than 200 countries and territories, with hundreds of thousands of pickup locations. The company has not disclosed the identity of the first DAN partner.
Stable Card extends USDPT to consumers in inflation-hit markets
The third element of the strategy is the USD Stable Card. Western Union plans to roll out the card later in 2026 across dozens of markets. The card is designed to allow consumers to hold value in stablecoins and spend globally, and will run on the same USDPT infrastructure that powers agent settlement and DAN.
“The Stable Card is particularly compelling in inflation-sensitive markets where customers want dollar-denominated value with immediate practical utility,” McGranahan said.
The company has not disclosed the specific markets the card will launch in or its card network partner.
Q1 numbers show stabilization, but stock fell after the print
Western Union reported Q1 2026 GAAP revenue of $983 million, down roughly 1% year-over-year. According to the investor presentation, that marks a 400-basis-point improvement from the fourth quarter of 2025, when adjusted revenue declined 5%. GAAP operating margin came in at 13%, and adjusted operating margin was also 13%. GAAP earnings per share were $0.20, and adjusted EPS was $0.25, below the $0.39 consensus estimate from analysts.
Branded Digital, the company’s online and app-based money transfer business, posted a 21% year-over-year increase in transactions, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of mid-single-digit or better adjusted revenue growth in that segment. Consumer Services adjusted revenue grew 33%.
The drag came from the retail Consumer Money Transfer business, where adjusted revenue fell 6%, with transactions flat and cross-border principal up 1% on a constant currency basis.
WU stock closed at $8.90 on Friday, April 24, down 4.6% after the earnings print, with analysts pointing to the EPS miss and continued retail headwinds in the Americas. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $1.75 to $1.85 and adjusted revenue growth of 6% to 9%, both of which assume the previously announced acquisition of Intermex, a U.S.-Mexico remittance firm, closes in Q2 2026.
USDPT enters a crowded stablecoin field
Dollar-backed stablecoins currently sit at over $300 billion in market capitalization, and the GENIUS Act, signed into law in 2025, has given U.S.-issued stablecoins a clearer legal footing. Solana has been one of the fastest-growing stablecoin settlement networks by transaction volume, with sub-cent fees and near-instant finality.
Western Union is not the only legacy payments firm building on these rails. PayPal’s PYUSD, an enterprise dollar stablecoin issued by Paxos, has scaled into the multi-billion dollar range. Fiserv, a U.S. payments processor, is rolling out FIUSD on Solana. MoneyGram, a competing remittance company, has integrated USDC, the dollar stablecoin issued by Circle, on Stellar, a payments-focused blockchain, for its mobile app. Visa, the global card network, has expanded stablecoin settlement support to Solana.
McGranahan said on the call that the digital asset rollout is part of a broader move to accelerate the company’s Evolve 2025 strategy from a five-year plan into a three-year plan.
The company has supported the strategy through a series of acquisitions, including Dash, a Singapore-based digital wallet firm; Eurochange, a U.K. travel money business; Spin Premia, a Mexican wallet provider; and Intermex. The investor presentation also flagged a $150 million operational cost savings target by 2028.
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