Visa and Western Union Announce Expanded Collaboration Transforming How Money Travels Cross-Border
• Using Visa Direct capability, Western Union customers in 40 countries will be able to quickly to send and/or receive funds to friends and family around the world.
• Western Union’s government and NGO customers will also be able to use prepaid cards to aid humanitarian relief.
Cairo 10 Mar 2024:
Today, Visa (NYSE: V) announced a 7-year agreement with Western Union (NYSE: WU). Under the new deal, Western Union customers will be able to receive money from their family and friends’ eligible Visa cards and bank accounts from 40 countries across five regions .
The agreement encompasses card issuance, Western Union’s integration with Visa Direct, and value-added services delivery including risk products. Western Union customers will also be able to receive Visa prepaid cards in select markets offering an innovative solution that bridges the physical and digital world.
Western Union and Visa are also developing disbursement programs for humanitarian organizations and governments to support the delivery of critical funds during a disaster. The programs are intended to support emergency and humanitarian payouts, cross-border pension payouts , and domestic benefits and disbursement payouts.
“Customers are always on looking for efficient and secure methods to send money home to support their families and loved ones. We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Western Union to provide fast, secure, and convenient money movement for customers living in 40 countries across five regions,” said Malak El Baba, Vice President and Country Manager for Egypt at Visa. She added: “Visa’s global scale and Western Union’s digital capabilities are revolutionizing how customers send and receive funds around the world. We are proud to offer fast and efficient solutions for cross-border payments solutions to Egypt, given the noticeable contribution of remittances on the nation’s economy.”
“Aspiring populations around the world rely on Western Union to provide them with innovative and accessible financial services that offer flexibility, value and trust,” said Sam Jawad, Head of Ecosystem, at Western Union. “By strengthening our strategic collaboration with Visa, together we will deliver impactful products and services that can help empower our customers to build a life of opportunity for themselves and their loved ones.”
The agreement builds on Western Union’s existing integrations with Visa Direct in 2022 and 2019, which enabled US and European customers to send and/or receive funds directly to eligible Visa card holders overseas.
About Visa Inc.
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is committed to helping people around the world who aspire to build financial futures for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Our leading cross-border, cross-currency money movement, payments and digital financial services empower consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments—across more than 200 countries and territories and nearly 130 currencies—to connect with billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and a global footprint of hundreds of thousands of retail locations. Our goal is to offer accessible financial services that help people and communities prosper. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
