ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Western Union Business Solutions, a unit of the Western Union Company, announced that it has partnered with IndusInd Bank Limited to bring its technology platform for making global business and foreign exchange payments to the doorsteps of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises are essential to India’s economy,” said Raj Agrawal, President, Western Union Business Solutions. “There are nearly 30 million Indian SMEs that make a significant contribution to the country’s GDP. This arrangement will not only bring improved access to foreign exchange products for SMEs but will also increase the ease and efficiency with which they trade with their global partners.”

IndusInd Bank has also signed up two of Western Union’s largest agents, Weizmann Forex Ltd and Paul Merchants Ltd, as referral agents to help market the service in India. The service will launch at select Paul Merchants Ltd. and Weizmann Forex Ltd. Western Union locations in 22 cities across the country and aims to provide doorstep service to clients.

Customers will be able to request a visit from a trained representative of Paul Merchants Limited or Weizmann Forex, allowing them to book a cross-border transaction from their home or office. This service will be offered under license by IndusInd Bank and will be particularly valuable for small businesses that currently need to commit resource and travel time to arrange payments for international suppliers. Additional benefits include:

• Efficient processing and payment reconciliation, ensuring all parties know when funds will be delivered;
• Transparent pricing and increased payment visibility so that clients know the exact amount of funds the recipient will receive;
• Automatic email notifications to both sender and receiver upon a transaction being booked;
• A wide selection of currencies powered by Western Union Business Solutions’ global payment infrastructure with over 100 currencies expected as the service expands.

“While the larger businesses often manage to get the best deals for their cross-border payments, it has been seen that the SME segment does not always get the same level of services. We are confident that this technology offering will help us bring stronger service to support Indian SMEs,” said Ramesh Ganesan, Executive Vice President, IndusInd Bank Limited.

Western Union Business Solutions enables companies and organizations of all sizes to send and receive global business payments and manage foreign exchange, creating unique solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. It is a business unit of the Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leading nonbank provider of cross border payments, and offers services through locally licensed affiliates in over 30 countries. Supported by a network of trading offices, strategic banking relationships and a global clearing network, businesses can send cross-border payments in more than 135 currencies. © 2013 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. www.business.westernunion.com

About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) 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 2012, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of approximately 510,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2012, The Western Union Company completed 231 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $79 billion of principal between consumers, and 432 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

About IndusInd Bank

IndusInd Bank, which commenced operations in 1994, caters to the needs of both consumer and corporate customers. Its technology platform supports multi-channel delivery capabilities. As on March 31, 2013, IndusInd Bank had 500 branches, and 882 ATMs spread across 358 geographical locations of the country. The Bank also has representative offices in London and Dubai.

The Bank believes in driving its business through technology. It enjoys clearing bank status for both major stock exchanges - BSE and NSE - and major commodity exchanges in the country, including MCX, NCDEX, and NMCE. IndusInd Bank on April 1, 2013 was included in the NIFTY 50 benchmark index. IndusInd Bank also offers DP facilities for stock and commodity segments.

RATINGS:

ICRA AA for Lower Tier II subordinate debt program by ICRA and ICRA AA- for Upper Tier II bond program by ICRA. CRISIL A1+ for certificate of deposit program by CRISIL. CARE AA for Lower Tier II subordinate debt program by CARE. Ind AA- for Upper Tier II bond program by India Ratings and Research and Ind A1+ for Short Term Debt Instruments by India Ratings and Research. For more information visit www.indusind.com.

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Source: Western Union