Western Union announced on Tuesday (July 24) that ecoAccount digital wallet holders can now send Western Union international or domestic money transfers from the U.K.
In a press release, the company said the capability was made possible by the integration of Western Union’s money movement functionalities within the ecoPayz platform. “Western Union is integrating our core business functionalities with third parties and their platforms to unlock new growth,” said Odilon Almeida, Western Union president of global money transfers, in a press release. “Our scale and omnichannel money transfer capability make it easy to integrate digital or cash money movement in today’s evolving digital financial ecosystem, allowing a greater universe of customers to be included, regardless of their digital or cash preferences.”
Citing the World Retail Banking Report, Western Union noted that close to one-third of banking customers are using products and services from non-traditional firms.
According to Western Union, the integration paves the way for a new class of online payment processors to join its global agent network. The ecoPayz products are offered by PSI-Pay Ltd., which is a global provider of instant and secure payment services for customers and businesses. It is Western Union’s first U.K.-based online wallet agent, the company said in the press release.
“We are excited to be collaborating with Western Union and introducing additional services to customers that will enable them to have more flexibility within their ecoAccount,” said Jonathan Amrani, operations director, PSI-Pay Ltd. “By accessing Western Union’s network, customers have access to hundreds of thousands of locations around the world, and this provides us with an excellent platform to grow and reach new customers.”
Western Union noted that plans are in the works to broaden its services to ecoPayz’s mobile app, as well as the ability for customers to send money around the globe. “We welcome ecoPayz and their customers to our global network. It is the first time we have enabled a non-bank online wallet provider in the U.K. to access the convenience of Western Union’s unique model of digital or cash in or out, 24/7, and this is a new beginning,” Almeida said.