Ripple partners with former Western Union unit to 'enhance' cross-border payments
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Ripple Labs and Convera said Tuesday they have partnered to "enhance global payments through stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure."

Convera, formerly known as Western Union Business Solutions, is a fintech that deals with over 140 currencies in approximately 200 countries and territories. The company was acquired for $910 million in 2021.

"With the growing presence and use of digital currencies such as crypto and stablecoins, Convera has maintained a thoughtful approach by listening to what our customers want while watching this space continue to mature," Convera CEO Patrick Gauthier said in a statement. "Ripple is a clear leader in the crypto space and a natural fit for Convera."

Gauthier previously served as head of Amazon Pay. Ripple is the primary advocate for XRP Ledger and issuer of the RLUSD stablecoin.

The two companies said they will utilize a "stablecoin sandwich" model in which payments "begin and end in fiat" but leverage stablecoins in between.

"Enterprises are increasingly looking for faster, more flexible ways to move money globally without taking on the complexity of digital assets directly," Ripple SVP of Product Aaron Slettehaugh said.

Through acquisitions and partnerships, Ripple has been aggressively expanding its global network as stablecoins and traditional payments merge. Last week, the company joined the Singapore central bank's BLOOM initiative to pilot programmable cross-border trade settlements using the XRP Ledger and Ripple's dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD.

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