The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced it will launch international direct to bank money transfers to Mexico from the United States via the Grupo Financiero Banorte’s UniTeller network.
An agreement recently signed between Western Union and UniTeller, will allow Western Union customers in the US to send cash directly into qualifying bank accounts – totaling more than 60 million individual bank accounts. The UniTeller network currently covers top banks in Mexico.
Planned for launch in the first quarter of 2015, customers will be able to send international money transfers direct-to-bank from participating retail Agent locations, www.westernunion.com and directly from Western Union smart phone mobile applications from the US.
Ricardo Velazquez, Head of International Banking, Trade Finance and Financial Institutions of Grupo Financiero Banorte, said: “UniTeller and Banorte are leaders in Mexico in the offering of financial services to the beneficiaries receiving money from their relatives abroad, continuously seeking for new ways to process international transfers. With this agreement, beneficiaries of remittances in Mexico will find it very convenient to open an account at our bank and directly receive the funds through Western Union with the benefit of value added banking services.”
“This agreement is a result of the competitiveness of our Remittance Platform and will enhance the international payment services for our customers in Mexico. As a leader of remittance processing services, UniTeller continues to support the end to end services for our customers in Mexico and abroad,” added Alberto Guerra, CEO of UniTeller Financial Services at Grupo Financiero Banorte.
Odilon Almeida, President Americas and European Union of Western Union, said: “Thanks to this international collaboration, Western Union customers in the United States can send money directly into Banorte accounts and soon to other Mexican banks giving customers new choice based on their use, need and convenience.
“We are excited to offer our customers in Mexico a new way to conveniently receive money. Although receivers in Mexico continue to have a strong preference for cash and our retail growth has been solid, we believe the direct to bank services will bring in new types of consumers who prefer to receive funds in accounts.
“Expanding into the banking channels of Mexico in collaboration with UniTeller is a significant development; we are proud to uphold our promise to continually enhance convenience and choice for our customers,” said Almeida.
