New ‘No Transfer Fee’ Promotion Targets Consumers Who Send Money
Online from the U.S. to Mexico, Philippines and India
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Western Union (NYSE:WU) continues to increasingly cater to the needs of
web-savvy customers who want greater convenience in their financial
services. To give new consumers an incentive to try its easy and
reliable online money transfer service, Western Union is now offering a
‘No Transfer Fee’ promotion on qualifying transfers.
For a limited time, customers can now use www.WesternUnion.com
to send money from the U.S. to India, Mexico and the Philippines fee-free*.
The promotion is for people who send money online using their online
bank accounts. Receivers can pick up the money at any of the more than
100,000 combined Agent locations in India, Mexico and the Philippines.
“We began transferring money via the Internet back in 2000 with the goal
of reaching what we considered at the time to be non-traditional Western
Union users,” said
Khalid Fellahi
, Western Union’s Senior Vice President
and General Manager, Western Union Digital. “This segment continues to
grow and has become a key audience for Western Union. Our strategy is to
provide a complete suite of services catering to their needs. This
includes the attractive bank-to-bank segment, which complements our
traditional retail services.”
The Western Union© web-based money transfer business is one
of the fastest growing areas of the company; experiencing more than 35
percent revenue growth in 2011 and almost 40 percent revenue growth in
first quarter 2012. The platform is attracting new customers: over the
last 12 months, more than 80 percent of new online customers are new to
the company’s customer base, including those with established banking
relationships.
The Internet is just one part of the company’s broader digital strategy
in which it also seeks to expand its offerings for banked customers and
further into the mobile arena and prepaid cards.
Fellahi continued, “With our 500,000-location Agent network in 200
countries and territories, brand awareness and unique relationship with
underserved markets, Western Union’s sits in a solid position at the
nexus between cash and digital technologies. We are equipped to help
consumers get cash into or out of the financial system, which is a
critical capability since cash continues to be a preferred payment
method in most of the world. But digital capabilities are also critical
to our long term success and WesternUnion.com and our mobile app are
cornerstone efforts. After all, they provide the ultimate form of
convenience because people can do business with us anytime, day or
night.”
*WESTERN UNION MAKES MONEY FROM CURRENCY EXCHANGE.
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 April 24, 2012, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi
Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of
approximately 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories.
In 2011, The Western Union Company completed 226 million
consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $81 billion of
principal between consumers, and completed 425 million business payments.
WU-F, WU-G
Source: Western Union