Western Union Offers Mobile Money (MGI) (WU)

The company has tied up with Tigo Money for providing this service in this latin American region. Tigo Money – Tigo’s mobile money service – will allow the people of this region to receive money from Western Union customers around the globe.

Tigo’s wide network in 13 markets across Latin America and Africa has motivated Western Union to consider it for an alliance. Tigo is a subsidiary of the telecommunication group Millicom International Cellular S.A.

The service will help the subscribers of Tigo to directly receive funds through their mobile from around the world. They can also use the funds received through this service to recharge mobile phones.

Western Union El Salvador as an attractive remittance market because of its large migrant population.

The company is aggressively embracing the use of new age technology for providing flawless service to its customers. Mobile payments are gaining momentum due to its convenience and round-the-clock accessibility. This service is expected to witness faster adoption rate than any other electronic channel.

As of December 31, 2011, there were over 150,000 Western Union agent locations enabled with the technology to transfer money through a mobile phone. Although mobile transfer contributes a small portion to the company’s revenues, Western Union is witnessing strong growth in some corridors.

Peer MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI) is also advancing its mobile services. the company has recently announced a strategic alliance with the globally leading digital security provider, Gemalto, to offer money transfer solution on the latter's LinqUs Mobile Money payment platform. Accordingly, MoneyGram's customers will be able to transfer money from their mobile phones to any of the company's 284,000 global locations in about 194 countries.