Money transfer firm offers new services

Western Union is launching this year two new services in the Philippines to leverage on the continually strong remittance from overseas Filipinos.

Patricia Z. Riingen, a senior vice president at Western Union, said in an interview that the financial service firm was looking at opportunities in new channels like prepaid cards and bank account-based money transfers (ABMT).

“Prepaid represents a significant opportunity in the Philippines, offering added convenience to receive and spend money to the ‘unbanked’ population, including seafarers,” Riingen said.

She said users of the Western Union prepaid card, which would be rolled out later this year in partnership with Mastercard and Visa, would have the option to use it for withdrawing cash from automated teller machines or using it for purchases.

“It will have a loyalty and rewards program and will also serve as an ID for transactions at any Western Union location,” Riingen said.

She added that the use of the card would not carry a cost for the user, but “loading” it with credit would entail a fee, as was usual for sending money through Western Union.

“Ultimately it would be a card through which senders from anywhere in the world can top up the credit load,” she said.

As for ABMT services, company executive vice president Stewart A. Stockdale said these would enable bank account holders anywhere in the world to access Western Union services through their banks.

“This will provide bank customers with an additional way to send funds to and receive funds from Western Union’s global network of 455,000 locations in 200 countries,” Stockdale said.