This new global platform enables new
customers to use social media, mobile and
technology companies’ channels to benefit
from worldwide, domestic and cross-border
person-to-person money transfer services.
WU Connect represents a natural evolu-
tion in the group’s omni-channel strategy,
connecting the digital world to the strength of
Western Union’s physical network and offering
consumers more ways to send and receive
money globally via the platform of their choice.
The majority of traditional users of Western
Union services still prefer cash, particularly
those on the receive side. This new solution
is a way for Western Union to reach new
customers for its digital business, and creates
new opportunities for our existing agents and
partners.
How does it work?
WU Connect allows third party digital plat-
forms to access Western Union’s money
transfer capabilities through a suite of Appli-
cation Programming Interfaces (APIs), which
essentially allows a product or service to be
easily integrated with a partner’s product or
service. Once a social media or technology
company signs up for WU Connect, their
consumers can send and receive money
while they are using the social media or
messaging channel. It is as simple as sending
a message, a picture or a video. They will be
able to fund the money transfer using a debit
card, credit card or bank account and direct
the funds to a mobile wallet, a bank account,
or to one of the more than 500,000 Western
Union retail agent locations around the world.
Depending on the funding and pay out
methods, countries and banks involved, the
WU CONNECT, a new step
in Money Transfer
In a world where social media and smart phones have become an integral part of everyday lives, Western
Union has taken an additional step towards reaching new digital-savvy individuals by launching the
innovative technology platform, WU Connect.
funds will be available for the receiver in
minutes or in a few days.
WU Connect includes many APIs, such as
FX, pricing and fee services, compliance,
fraud and risk management and cross-border
finance settlement, all of which are necessary
to expedite the efficient and timely movement
of money almost anywhere in the world.
A first agreement with a leading player
Western Union announced last month a first
agreement with WeChat, a leading social
communication platform and one of the
world’s fastest growing social apps. WeChat
users in the U.S. now have the ability to send
money cross-border to 200 countries and
territories via the WU Connect platform, with
planned rollouts to additional countries in the
future. Globally, WeChat, together with its
sister product Weixin in China, has over 650
million monthly active user accounts as of late
September 2015.
This collaboration solidifies Western Union’s
status as a market leader in digital money
transfer. Signing an agreement with WeChat
is already a very good start and Western
Union is looking forward to joining forces with
other leading social media and technology
companies. Social media is a very exciting
area and opens up a gateway to a pool of
potential new customers that will also benefit
Western Union’s network of retail agents.
Next steps
Across its footprint, Western Union has over
500,000 retail agent locations (which include
leading retailers, post offices and banks),
more than 100,000 ATMs and kiosks, over 90
active Account Based Money Transfer bank
partners, along with bank payout options in
more than 50 countries.
6 Eurogiro News
