Walmart Offers Western Union Services At 4,700 US Stores

Walmart and Western Union have rolled out the money transfer company’s services at the retail giant’s nearly 4,700 stores across the U.S.

“We know we have a role to play in customers’ lives that goes beyond being a place where they shop for their weekly groceries,” said Julia Unger, vice president of financial services at Walmart, in a press release. “Being able to send much-needed funds to a loved one, especially after a year like the one we’ve had, is more important than ever.”

Jean Claude Farah, president, global network at Western Union, said it is exciting to be working with Walmart and “reaching new customers and expanding choice and convenience for the customers we share.” The Western Union services offered at Walmart include domestic and international money transfers, bill payments and money orders.

The two global giants first announced their plans in January of this year. In a press release, Farah said that collaborating with Walmart would bring “the best of our money movement and payments service capabilities” to expanded consumer populations across the country and globe. “In an age when speed, security, convenience and trust mean everything, we are offering customers greater ease, reliability, access and confidence with every transaction,” Farah said at the time.

In the latest release, the companies said that Western Union’s cross-border, multicurrency platform and global financial network reaches 200 countries and territories worldwide. The Western Union platform can handle 130 currencies.

The new partnership provides Walmart customers with a convenient way to send money abroad — including to places like India, which is suffering from a major COVID-19 surge and crisis. Western Union touted the company’s ability to connect with financial institutions (FIs), governments and consumers “through one of the world’s widest-reaching networks, accessing billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and over half a million retail locations.”

Walmart currently operates 11,400 stores in 26 countries as well as a range of eCommerce websites. Its fiscal year 2020 revenues were $524 billion.