Western Union customers in Angola can now send money around the world

Regional News By Karen Santos Jun 23, 2022

Customers in Angola will now be able to send money from Western Union agent locations to their loved ones in over 200 countries and territories around the world, as we ramp up our outbound services. The move reinforces our commitment to Angola and to advance cross-border money movement for customers in the country.

Outbound services now available in Angola

Consumer demand for international financial connectivity in one of the largest economies in sub-Saharan Africa continues to rise rapidly. As we continue to work in cooperation with Angola’s regulatory and financial services community, our customers now can enjoy fast and convenient money transfer services through Agents: Banco Millenium Atlantico, Banco de Comercio e Industria and Unitransfer.

“Since establishing a presence in Angola in 2002, Western Union has been committed to offering customers convenient channels for money transfer, providing a wide choice of fast and easy ways to send and receive money across borders,” said President for EMEA and APAC Jean Claude Farah, during a press conference in Luanda. “We believe that connecting people, community and businesses through money movement is true to our purpose. It creates opportunity and builds inclusive societies.”

“Working alongside global and local governments and regulators is of utmost importance to us. That is why in recent years, while our inbound services continued to remain operational, our outbound services were limited due to industry-wide country regulations. Today, thanks to the significant efforts of the Banco Nacional de Angola to implement key reforms and build a strong economic foundation for the country, we are delighted that customers can once again both send and receive money with convenience and speed from over 100 of our agent locations across the country,” Farah added.

Empowering people and communities

People are more connected than ever and value choice, making bridging the digital and physical world’s money a critical component of our strategy. Our technology stack, APIs, foreign exchange and settlement engine, agent network and anti-money laundering and fraud detection capabilities make us one of the largest digital and physical money movers for consumers around the globe.

“Our strategy in Angola and the broader Africa region is purpose-built for where the world is headed – paying close attention to our customers’ needs and focusing on how we give broader support to communities so that everyone can benefit from the movement of money,” said Mohamed Touhami El Ouazzani, Regional Vice President of Africa at Western Union.“Today, in addition to receiving money, customers in Angola can seamlessly send money to their loved ones through retail locations in over 200 countries and territories, and directly into bank accounts in over 130 countries and territories around the world. The future is exciting, and I look forward to working closely with Banco Nacional de Angola, and our agents on how we can advance our services further – delivering even greater value for all our customers.”

Our services are available at more than 55,000 Agent locations in over 50 markets across Africa. We are currently working towards scaling services and unlocking new market segments in Angola, with a focus on enabling speed, choice and efficiency for customers while driving financial inclusion and economic empowerment by helping them move money around the globe.