Western Union Launches Cross-border Mobile Money Transfer Service in El Salvador

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a global leader in payment services, today announced the launch of a new way for people in El Salvador to receive money from abroad.

“We have a vast global network of agent locations, experience in moving money across borders, and our relationships with some of the world’s most successful operators so we’re well-positioned to introduce people to cross-border financial services and unlock new economic opportunities for them.”

The company’s Mobile Money Transfer service now allows Western Union customers around the world to send remittances to people in El Salvador who subscribe to Tigo Money, Tigo’s mobile money service. Tigo is a subsidiary of the telecommunication group Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Stockholmsbörsen: MIC), a leader in 13 markets across Latin America and Africa.

Here’s how the service works:

Senders can send Western Union Money Transfer^® transactions directly to receivers who subscribe to Tigo’s mobile money service for receipt on their mobile phones.
Alternatively, for even more flexibility, senders can send Western Union Money Transfer transactions and then receivers can direct the funds into their mobile phones by dialing *555# and following the prompts.
After receiving the funds, receivers can use them to top up their mobile phones.

“Western Union is leading the way in bringing international remittances to mobile subscribers around the globe and pleased to announce the availability of our Mobile Money Transfer service in El Salvador,” said Gregg Marshall, Western Union’s Global Head of Mobile Sales and Business Development. “We have a vast global network of agent locations, experience in moving money across borders, and our relationships with some of the world’s most successful operators so we’re well-positioned to introduce people to cross-border financial services and unlock new economic opportunities for them.”

Earlier this year, Western Union and Tigo announced the availability of this service in Paraguay and, in the coming months, the companies plan to roll it out to customers in Honduras and Guatemala.

In addition to El Salvador, the Western Union^® Mobile Money Transfer service is currently available in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Paraguay, the Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda and the U.S.

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 June 30, 2012, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of approximately 510,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2011, The Western Union Company completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $81 billion of principal between consumers, and 425 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

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