We have BIG news.
We at Western Union are delighted to announce that we are teaming up with Walmart to make our speed, reliability, convenience, and trust available to the millions of people who rely on the world’s largest retailer’s more than 4,700 U.S. locations.
This is the first time one of the world’s leading global money movers and the world’s leading retailer have worked together in the United States. It signals a new era in both companies’ missions to provide world-leading value and financial inclusion to the customers we both serve. Walmart already offers Western Union services to its customers in Canada and Mexico; very soon, consumers will have the choice of using Western Union money transfer services through Walmart stores across North America.
At Walmart, Western Union services are planned to begin rolling out this spring, 2021. It will include domestic and international money transfers, bill payments, and money orders. Through our global cross-border, cross-currency platform, Walmart customers will have the ability to move money to 550,000 retail locations or into billions of bank accounts, wallets, or cards.
This amounts to a double win for the people we serve: both Western Union and Walmart support customers who rely on us to make everyday purchases such as groceries, personal items, and health care. Walmart customers can combine their shopping trips to send and receive money to their loved ones and pick up the essentials they need.
For millions, Walmart is much more than a place to shop—it is also a place they trust for their financial needs. For more than 20 years, Walmart has worked to provide their customers’ financial services through the providers they want, all at transparent prices. Since 2014, Walmart has saved customers more than $1.5 billion across its marketplace financial services offerings.
This is precisely the kind of service and value, born of relentless focus on customer needs, that we at Western Union endeavor to bring to our business as well. It is not an exaggeration to say that teaming up promises both our companies not just the opportunity to enhance our value to our customers and shareholders but to learn and grow together as we continue to expand participation in the world’s economy.
Western Union has expanded Walmart’s money transfer and payments offering by connecting Western Union’s unparalleled global payout network, range of money transfer services, and robust compliance capabilities. In the U.S., we can payout at more than 50,000 locations, and globally we offer customers the choice to send funds to a bank account, wallet, or card in more than 100 countries and to pay out in cash at retail locations in more than 200 countries and territories.
We at Western Union often say that expanding access and choice across the global economic spectrum is not just good business and the right thing to do but also the surest path to success in the 21st century. Our new alliance with Walmart is proof that other iconic global giants feel exactly the same way.
By Jean Claude Farah, President, Western Union Global Network
