Visa announced a new strategic agreement with Western Union, a global supplier of the transfer of money across borders and in different currencies. Western Union will implement Visa Direct, the platform of push payments (payments in real time) in an effort to bring speed and transparency to the process of sending money worldwide.
This collaboration reinforces Visa’s commitment to modernise the way payments are made throughout the world. Once the implementation of Visa Direct by Western Union is in operation, Western Union will offer customers an improved remittance service on cards with more transparency and a better user experience for both issuers and recipients. Western Union and Visa share a vision about modern money transfer; This expanded service is intended to make payments across borders more reliable and effective than ever before.
Nearly US $80 trillion (€71 trillion) is sent through wire transfers or bank accounts globally at present , but the process is more difficult and complex than it should be. Sometimes, the money takes several days to arrive because of outdated methods, with different stages and costly. 85% of all transactions are still made in cash or another physical currency. The digitisation and improvement of these solutions are fundamental for Visa and Western Union payment modernisation strategies.
“Together, Visa Direct and Western Union are working to expand payments across borders in real time for businesses and consumers in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 130 currencies,” said Bill Sheley, global director of push payments (Payments in Real Time) of 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 capabilities and operational scale to deliver exceptional value propositions and user experiences. to issuers and receivers around the world. ”
“Western Union has the largest retail money transfer network, and this agreement represents a key milestone for our account payment network that combines the best capabilities across the borders of Visa and Western Union to enable a payment platform. of world class, “said Jean Claude Farah, executive vice president of Western Union. “This collaboration allows our customers to have a fast, easy-to-use and reliable platform to send funds to billions of eligible accounts around the world.”
In 2018, Western Union made more than 800 million transactions for commercial customers and consumers. Their commitment to innovation and comfort has led them to develop and invest in new ways to send money through digital and mobile channels.
Visa focuses on improving and modernising payments across borders. In addition to this new collaboration, Visa announced last month the acquisition of control of Earthport , a company that provides payment services across borders. The acquisition of Earthport is an extension of the comprehensive strategy across the borders of Visa that is complemented by Visa Direct and our existing partnerships.
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