Eurogiro was created to give participating European post offices and post banks a means of facilitating cross border payments. The organization now spans 51 countries around the world. Eurogiro's goal is to enhance customer service, reduce production costs and increase business within member organizations.

In 1998, Eurogiro and Western Union joined forces to provide Western Union services at selected Eurogiro members. Today, more than 25 Eurogiro members, including banks, post offices and postal banks offer Western Union Money Transfer services through more than 40,000 locations in more than 20 countries.

Our relationship with Eurogiro is strategically very important for Western Union, said Hikmet Ersek, Executive Vice President, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Western Union. Western Union strives to associate with the most trusted service providers throughout the world. Eurogiro members offer a network of convenient, familiar and reliable locations that are already a part of our consumers daily lives.

The Western Union same day cash-to-cash product enables Eurogiro members to reach about 200 countries and thereby supplements Eurogiro's other quality services for the remittance market, say Henrik Parl, chief executive of Eurogiro.

Together, Western Union and Eurogiro will continue to pursue opportunities to expand availability of money transfer services throughout the region and explore opportunities to extend the range of services available through Eurogiro's member organizations.