Capability enables academic institutions to simplify reconciliation
of payments from Chinese students
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The
Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payments
services, announced today that it has added WeChat Pay to its WU®
GlobalPay for Students product, through its alliance with
Geoswift, a payment company specializing in payment solutions in and out
of China. The enhanced capability will enable academic institutions to
offer Chinese students studying abroad a wider range of digital payment
options including WeChat Pay, Alipay, UnionPay and Tenpay, significantly
improving their payment experience.
Digital payments are embedded into everyday life in China: payments
through messaging app WeChat have risen from circa US$11.6 billion to an
estimated US$1.2 trillion from 2012 to 2016, according to a study by the
United Nations1 while separate analysis by Hillhouse Capital
found that WeChat Pay accounted for 40% of mobile transactions in China
in the first quarter of 20172.
Given that in 2015 one in four international students globally came from
China, according to the Centre for China and Globalization3,
universities have an opportunity to capitalise on this movement by
offering international payment options which better reflect the needs of
these students.
“Mobile payments play a key role in the day-to-day life of China’s
digitally savvy population,” said Adam Tiberi, senior vice president,
strategy and product, Western Union Business Solutions. “Being able to
use WeChat Pay and other popular payment platforms is crucial for
Chinese students. As the largest international student population in the
world, Chinese students expect universities to offer them simple and
convenient payment experiences. Our latest update to GlobalPay for
Students allows our education customers to provide an enhanced
experience for their Chinese students.”
“China accounts for about a quarter of international students in the
world,” said Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO, Geoswift Limited. “The country
is instrumental in shaping the trends for international student
payments. This poses a huge opportunity for academic institutions across
the world to attract Chinese students by providing appropriate payment
opportunities. We are delighted to build on our existing alliance with
Western Union to further enable this opportunity.”
WeChat has become an integral part of Chinese people’s lives as more and
more adopt mobile payments over cash or other payment types. WeChat
provides extended partnerships with leading payments providers across
the world to enable universities to accept payments via the app.
Western Union launched its enhanced GlobalPay for Students platform in
2017 to enable academic institutions to more efficiently reconcile,
refund and track payments from international students. Designed with an
intuitive mobile-first user interface and real-time payment tracking
capabilities, GlobalPay for Students was developed with the involvement
of international students to help improve the overall payer experience.
In addition to online bank transfer and credit card payments, the
platform offers users a wide range of online payment options in over 30
countries, including Geoswift (Alipay, UnionPay and Tenpay), POLI
Payments, Trustly and SOFORT.
About Western Union
The
Western Union Company is a leader in global payment services.
Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union
Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides
consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send
and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase
money orders. As of December 31, 2017, the Western Union, Vigo and
Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network
of over 550,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and
over 150,000 ATMs and kiosks, and included the capability to send money
to billions of accounts. In 2017, The Western Union Company completed
276 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82
billion of principal between consumers, and 547 million business
payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
1 https://www.betterthancash.org/tools-research/case-studies/social-networks-ecommerce-platforms-and-the-growth-of-digital-payment-ecosystems-in-china
2 https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html
3 http://en.ccg.org.cn/ccgs-annual-report-finds-returning-overseas-chinese-students-becoming-major-force-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/
WU-G
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180430005050/en/
Source: The Western Union Company