Western Union Rolls Out Full API Access For International Payments

Cross-border payments firm Western Union has rolled out full application programming interface (API) access to domestic and global payment applications, the company said in a press release on Monday (Oct. 28).

This new set of APIs offers users a way to “integrate their financial institutions, accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and their account on GlobalPay,” according to the release.

“Through this investment, we have enriched our API capabilities to ensure our customers receive a best-in-class experience when using our products and integrating their data,” said Scott Johnson, global head of product for Western Union Business Solutions.

API integration offers a way to streamline payments processing while providing access to transparent foreign exchange rates and associated fees. APIs also utilize the latest level of regulated European internet security: strong customer authentication (SCA).

“Our goal is to help customers integrate their data, in turn expanding their global reach and managing their international payments more efficiently, while maintaining our commitment to leading the industry in offering the highest standards of security,” Johnson said.

Domestic and cross-border payments are supported in over 130 currencies. Account information service providers will have improved account visibility, and payment initiation service providers will be able to integrate with Western Union’s payment network and correspondent banks.

The expanded APIs align with the European open banking and PSD2 requirements that became effective in September.

Also in September, Western Union announced it had expanded its real-time global payments capabilities to include transfers to an account or mobile wallet for select banks or digital wallet providers in 17 countries. Receivers will have funds available to spend within minutes, enabling real-time, cross-border, cross-currency payments capabilities for C2C, B2C and B2B use cases. At least 100 additional countries are being evaluated for enablement of real-time payment capability by the end of 2020.