New collaboration to modernize global money movement for expedited
cross-border money transfers
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 5, 2019--
Today, Visa
(NYSE:V) announced a new strategic agreement with Western
Union (NYSE:WU), a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency
money movement. Western Union will implement Visa Direct, Visa’s
real-time1 push payments platform in an effort to bring speed
and transparency to the process of sending money around the world. This
collaboration reinforces Visa’s commitment to modernize how payments are
made around the world. Once Western Union’s implementation of Visa
Direct is live, Western Union will be able to offer customers an
expedited remittance service onto cards with more transparency and an
enhanced user experience for both senders and receivers. Western Union
and Visa share a vision for modern money movement; this expanded service
is intended to make cross border payments more reliable and efficient
than ever before.
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Nearly $80 trillion (US) of money is sent via a wire transfer or bank
account globally today2, but the process is harder and more
complex than it should be. Money can take days to arrive because of
outdated, multi-step, costly methods. 85% of all transactions are still
in cash, or other physical currency.3 The digitization and
improvement of these solutions are core to both Visa’s and Western
Union’s payment modernization strategies.
“Together Visa Direct and Western Union are collaborating with plans to
scale real-time4 cross border payments to businesses and
consumers in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 130
currencies,” said Bill Sheley, global head of push payments, Visa. “This
new strategic relationship with Western Union combines the
industry-leading capabilities of the world’s largest remittance provider
with Visa’s global reach, risk management abilities and operating scale,
to bring exceptional value propositions and user experiences to senders
and receivers around the globe.”
“Western Union has the largest money transfer retail network and this
agreement represents a key milestone for our account payout network
combining the best of Visa and Western Union’s cross-border capabilities
to enable a world-class payments platform,” said Jean Claude Farah,
executive vice president, Western Union. “This collaboration enables our
customers to have a fast, user-friendly and reliable platform to send
funds into billions of eligible accounts across the world.”
In 2018 Western Union completed more than 800 million transactions for
consumer and business clients. Their commitment to innovation and
convenience has led them to develop and invest in new ways to send money
through digital and mobile channels.
Visa is focused on improving and modernizing cross border payments. In
addition to this new collaboration, last month, Visa
announced the acquisition of control of Earthport, a company that
provides cross-border payment services. The acquisition of Earthport is
an extension of Visa’s overall cross-border strategy that’s
complementary to Visa Direct and our existing partnerships.
For more information on Visa Direct, visit:
https://usa.visa.com/partner-with-us/payment-technology/visa-direct.html.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border,
cross-currency money movement. Our omnichannel platform connects the
digital and physical worlds and makes it possible for consumers and
businesses to send and receive money and make payments with speed, ease,
and reliability. As of March 31, 2019, our network included over 550,000
retail agent locations offering Western Union, Vigo or Orlandi Valuta
branded services in more than 200 countries and territories, with the
capability to send money to billions of accounts. Additionally,
westernunion.com, our fastest growing channel in 2018, is available in
approximately 70 countries, plus additional territories, to move money
around the world. With our global reach, Western Union moves money for
better, connecting family, friends and businesses to enable financial
inclusion and support economic growth. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments. Our mission
is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure
payment network – enabling individuals, businesses and economies to
thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure
and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more
than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless
focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected
commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a
cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog
to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and
scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, please
visit About
Visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.
1 Actual fund availability depends on receiving financial
institution and region. Visa requires fast-funds enabled issuers to make
funds available to their recipient cardholders within a maximum of 30
minutes of approving the transaction. Please refer to your Visa
representative and the Visa Direct Original Credit Transaction Global
Implementation Guide for more information.
2Accenture
Market Sizing, 2017, Annual Addressable PV for Real Time Payments, all
markets
3 PWC Payments, A Landscape in Motion, 2015
4
See footnote 1
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190605005288/en/
Source: Visa Inc.
Cristina Hoole
Western Union
Mobile: +44-(0)7766 070978
Cristina.Hoole@wu.com
Bitsy Rich
Visa Inc.
erich@visa.com