Global payment services provider Western Union Co. (WU) has announced expansion of its global Agent network to Namibia via Magnet Bureau de Change.
Western Union views the African markets as attractive with respect to growing demand for remittance. Between 1990 and 2010, reported remittance inflows to Africa quadrupled, reaching nearly $40 billion, equivalent to 2.6% of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009. In order to capitalize on the huge remittance market, in April 2011, Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom announced a deal with Western Union that would enable the 13.5 million customers using its M-PESA mobile money transfer service to receive payments from any of the 80,000 Western Union agent locations across the world.
Also in January 2011, Western Union Co. and United Bank for Africa Plc expanded their partnership to increase the reach of money transfer. In October 2010, Western Union announced the launch of Western Union Quick Cash® payments for Google AdSense in the African countries of Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.
In Africa, Western Union has been operating for the past 15 years through a network of more than 23,000 agent locations in over 50 countries. The co-operations in Africa aim at winning the best systems, processes and technology to ensure reliability and reach. Africa is a growing economy in the global market, and such easily accessible services and product offerings are essential for competing in this space. Thus, Western Union continues to look for ways to spread out its business and services based on consumer needs in the region.
Western Union, competing with Dallas, Texas-based Moneygram International Inc. (MGI), has emerged as a world leader in payment services by actively expanding into new areas and products.
MONEYGRAM INTL (MGI): Free Stock Analysis Report
WESTERN UNION (WU): Free Stock Analysis Report
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment