Western Union to launch digital kiosks in 300 WHSmith high street
stores
The Western
Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today
announced that it has signed an agreement to activate Western Union
Money Transfer® services within WHSmith high street stores via Western
Union’s innovative self-service kiosks. The deal brings Western Union
services to existing and new groups of digitally savvy consumers from
even more convenient locations.
This new agreement will allow Western Union’s digital self-service
kiosks to be available at 300 WHSmith stores. Customers can simply enter
their transaction details at the kiosks and then proceed to a WHSmith
self-checkout to pay for their money transfer. These digital
transactions are paperless, provide digital compliance verification and
enable efficient check-outs.
Western Union is expanding its presence in the European retail market
and looking to expand its network by working with key UK retail groups
as agents for its money transfer services.
Odilon Almeida, President, Americas and European Union said, “Western
Union strategy of bringing an innovative digital self-service kiosk to
retailers puts customers in the driver’s seat for their transactions
with the convenience, efficiency and control that so many are seeking.”
“This innovative point-of-sale is advancing Western Union’s already vast
retail network and also making it attractive for major retailers looking
to enter the remittance sector cost efficiently. We are at the forefront
of the money transfer industry, serving as an economic engine with
in-minutes or next-day transfer of funds between individuals across the
globe and to urban and rural parts of the world.”
Giovanni Angelini, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Europe
at Western Union said, “Launching this new digital model in the UK with
a well-established retailer like WHSmith is encouraging as we continue
with our expansion across the UK retail space.”
“We are continuing to diversify our network by concentrating on top
British retail brands to offer convenience for new and existing
customers,” he said.
WHSmith is well-positioned as the UK’s most popular bookseller,
stationer and newsagent. With over 1,300 stores, almost one (1) million
people visit a WHSmith store every day.
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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 March 31, 2015, the Western Union, Vigo and
Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network
of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and
over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks. In 2014, The Western Union Company
completed 255 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide,
moving $85 billion of principal between consumers, and 484 million
business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
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