International money transfer services provider Western Union (WU) has launched a campaign against wire transfer transactions involving digital currency exchanges, CoinTelegraph reported.
Reddit user said in a post in early December 2017 that the company reportedly advised the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken that it is not processing a transaction related to digital currencies because it is against its internal rules.
This decision by WU is expected to adversely affect the operation of virtual currency exchanges, as well as the consumers using cryptocurrencies. This will also affect the profitability of the company as it will lose out a lot of business in the long term, considering the growing popularity of the cryptocurrencies all over the world.
Established in 1851 and is currently headed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hikmet Ersek, the Western Union offers various services including remittance, wire transfers and business payments.
The move by WU to ban transactions involving cryptocurrencies is similar to the actions taken by different financial providers around the world which prevented their customers from buying and selling digital currencies. Several banks have also closed accounts involved in the trading of virtual currencies.