KYODAI Collabs with Western Union for Cross-Border B2B Payments in Japan

Tokyo’s KYODAI Remittance is collaborating with Western Union (WU) to introduce cross-border, business-to-business (B2B) money transfers for corporate clients in Japan.

This is the first time WU is partnering with a Japanese money transfer provider to offer B2B cross-border payments for corporates, according to a press release on Tuesday (Sept. 7).

KYODAI will tap Western Union Business Solutions, initially implementing WU GlobalPay for Financial Institutions, which offers business clients the ability to make international transfers using direct and reliable payment routes.

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Haruhiko Ohashi, head of Japan, Western Union business solutions, said his company has worked with KYODAI Remittance in the past, and this new collaboration supports WU’s expansion as well as the “growing international trade market.”

Ohashi added that WU has “worked closely” with KYODAI to create the right “bespoke solution that will integrate our platforms with their environment.”

The two companies have worked together since 2019, offering Consumer to Consumer (C2C) cross-border payments. A change in Japan’s Payment Services Act in May gave KYODAI the green light to move into B2B, according to the release.

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Western Union Business Solutions is intended to help businesses “optimize cross-border payments” by offering solutions that facilitate the movement of money in 200 countries and territories using more than 130 currencies. Its platform is among the world’s widest-reaching networks, with more than 500,000 retail locations.

An international money transfer service, KYODAI Remittance was launched by parent company Unidos Co. Ltd 11 years ago, “mainly for repatriation of foreign residents in Japan.” As of April, Unidos processed over 5.6 million remittances.