Western Union Continues Digital Strategy Expansion with WHSmith

Press Release By Reggie Adams Published OnJune 30, 2015

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced that it has signed an agreement to activate Western Union Money Transfer® services within WHSmith high street stores via Western Union’s innovative self-service kiosks. The deal brings Western Union services to existing and new groups of digitally savvy consumers from even more convenient locations.

This new agreement will allow Western Union’s digital self-service kiosks to be available at 300 WHSmith stores. Customers can simply enter their transaction details at the kiosks and then proceed to a WHSmith self-checkout to pay for their money transfer. These digital transactions are paperless, provide digital compliance verification and enable efficient check-outs.

Western Union is expanding its presence in the European retail market and looking to expand its network by working with key UK retail groups as agents for its money transfer services.

Odilon Almeida, President, Americas and European Union said, “Western Union strategy of bringing an innovative digital self-service kiosk to retailers puts customers in the driver’s seat for their transactions with the convenience, efficiency and control that so many are seeking.”

“This innovative point-of-sale is advancing Western Union’s already vast retail network and also making it attractive for major retailers looking to enter the remittance sector cost efficiently. We are at the forefront of the money transfer industry, serving as an economic engine with in-minutes or next-day transfer of funds between individuals across the globe and to urban and rural parts of the world.”

Giovanni Angelini, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Europe at Western Union said, “Launching this new digital model in the UK with a well-established retailer like WHSmith is encouraging as we continue with our expansion across the UK retail space.”

“We are continuing to diversify our network by concentrating on top British retail brands to offer convenience for new and existing customers,” he said.

WHSmith is well-positioned as the UK’s most popular bookseller, stationer and newsagent. With over 1,300 stores, almost one (1) million people visit a WHSmith store every day.

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About Western Union:

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of March 31, 2015, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks. In 2014, The Western Union Company completed 255 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $85 billion of principal between consumers, and 484 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.