Western Union has been doing this for > 150 years.
Everything was a barrier. Language, paperwork, carrying cash around safely, time and finally most importantly, fees.
No thanks.
I just gave you no less than 6 reasons!
Slightly is an understatement.
And even that is debatable.
A new technology that has ignored the regulatory structure is not apples to apples. Someone could ignore regulations with current tech and be just as "convenient."
You don't need digital assets to commit fraud.
I didn't see any Bitcoin ATMs in either place, or Vietnam for that matter, and can't imagine the process of turning Bitcoin into spendable currency there would be easier, especially not for somebody without a local bank account.
What if I lost my wallet with my debit card, why would I know the language?
You are making a TON of assumptions and not considering A LOT of use cases.
Because sending money to people in the third world who DON'T have a bank account is almost impossible via a normal transfer. My understanding is that the vast majority of the Somali population in the US, for instance, send money home to friends and family via WU. They have a bank account in the US, their friends/family back home do not.
>What if I lost my wallet with my debit card, why would I know the language?
If you lost your wallet and debit card, why would you have thousands of dollars of cash on hand in a country you don't speak the language? That sounds both unlikely and extremely dangerous.
>You are making a TON of assumptions and not considering A LOT of use cases.
I've actually considered most of them, and I've yet to hear a situation that makes any realistic sense outside of illegal activities.
Vs
> If you’re in a third world country
This is a different scenario.
There’s many people that send money back home. What they use varies. I know people that transfer funds to someone and they give the cash to the person minus an amount. The method will depend on the location. I can’t speak for everyone and won’t try to.
>If you lost your wallet and debit card, why would you have thousands of dollars of cash on hand in a country you don't speak the language? That sounds both unlikely and extremely dangerous.
Depends. What country?
And in that country, how much is a room? Where am I staying? How much is a ticket? What do I need to get my stuff replaced? Do I have anything planned? Is it a business trip or leisure?
I'm in country with a cash economy, am unable to use my debit card in the local ATMs and don't speak the local language. I login to online banking on my phone or in a cybercafe and send a bank transfer in my currency from my account to WU. Within a few minutes WU confirms receipt of the funds. I walk down the street to the large WU sign, show a MTCN number and my passport to the teller, and collect equivalent cash in local currency, less a bearable-in-the-circumstances transaction fee. (This actually happened by the way.)
Let's for the sake of argument, assume I already have a large fortune in Bitcoins, access on all the major exchanges and private keys memorised and written down in a secure box, all in my possession. Trouble is vendors want local currency not BTC, and I don't have the language skills to convince them that actually BTC is a much better store of value or locate the local BTC enthusiast's group (if there is such a thing) and negotiate an informal money transfer with them. In the end I probably give up and use Western Union...
The issue with those alternatives is that they cost a lot. In your case, this additional cost was worth it in an emergency but that's often not the case.
Think of the vast number of people who send money abroad to support their families.
Even if I could have found someone in a small Moroccan town that knew what a Bitcoin was and how to use it, the daft exchange rate they'd have offered me to convert it into cash would have easily exceeded the cost of Western Union for the same transaction. The villages people send money to support families are not full of hackers playing around with blockchains, and the few people in their country with the knowhow and resources to exchange Bitcoins for cash are not going to be cheaper or easier to deal with than WU.
Sure, I can cash out crypto via my bank account and bankcard pretty easily, but I can cash out cash even more easily...
How much cash do you really want to walk around with if you have lost your wallet which likely included some Of your identification.
Normally, you just have to show Western Union the verification number and your name. You don’t need to chat up the front desk.
> If I had a bank account with balance, why would I use western union?
How often would you not have a bank account, not know the local language, and not be near people you know who would help with money in some extreme case?
—
The other two sibling comments repeated more points. Really all of us are wondering what use cases you’re thinking of.
I don’t think you realize how easy services like Western Union are. I didn’t either until I used it recently.
https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_f...
Western Union just needs the verification code and proof of who you are to give you money. I don’t see the big barrier with it.
I once sent $100 to someone in South America and it cost me $13.
WU is a relic that targets and takes advantage of the less fortunate and those in 3rd world countries.
And that's only looking at on-chain mechanics. Solutions exist to remedy issues with scalability of the underlying blockchain.
A lightning transaction currently costs $0.000432200 but you would have to have an existing channel open (which would make sense for a heavy user to have already)
I just looked it up, for BTC you currently pay a transfer fee equivalent to $11, with spikes to $17 in the past month.
I just don't get the Western Union hate.
However, part of the costs of course arise from supporting
a) a branch network that also enables those without smartphone to use the service, and
b) all the pesky KYC AML measures that Bitcoin conveniently circumvents.
I just now sent $100 to someone in South America and it cost me $17.
Bitcoin is a fad that targets and takes advantage of gullible people and those involved in the illegal drug trade.
This is for exchanges, right?
You can have a confirmation with Lightning for like less than 1/100th of a penny and there's no ID requirements for Bitcoin.
To start using Bitcoin, you don't need any ID. You can download, install, and use the normal Bitcoin client.
You only need ID to open an account on an exchange, and that's because exchanges have to follow Know Your Customer laws just like banks. But if you sell something for Bitcoin, you can accept it without an account anywhere.
You only need an account somewhere to convert between fiat and Bitcoin, and even that can be avoided if you find someone willing to sell you coins for cash.
With BTC I can buy them via the internet, and the person on the other side can also convert to cash in their own account via the internet, then withdraw on any ATM.
It's worlds apart.
Edit: I guess if you only consider the parent's use-case where the other person went to a Bitcoin ATM it's not that different but my point stands as it's only 1 other layer in the process and it's an online one.