- Major international money transfer firm Western Union will partner with Cebuana Lhuillier, which offers consumer financial products.
- The new arrangement will give Western Union an increased presence in the Philippines, which is one of the most popular in the world when it comes to remittance receiving.
- A senior figure at Western Union praised the new partnership as an example of customer-focused strategic thinking.
Global money transfer service Western Union has confirmed that it will work alongside a low-level financial services firm called Cebuana Lhuillier in the country.
The new partnership will mean that Western Union’s offer of services at in-person locations will grow by around 2,500 in the country.
It will now be possible for customers who walk into a Cebuana Lhuillier store to use the Western Union network.
This network operates around the world and allows the transfer of cash to and from more than 200 nations.
Cebuana Lhuillier, meanwhile, is a provider of consumer-level financial services.
It claims to offer services to more than 30 million customers in the South East Asian country.
It also has well over 1m ‘touchpoints’, it says – including both in-person and digitalised options.
In a press statement, Jean Claude Farah, who is the president of Western Union’s Global Network, said that creating consumer-centric partnerships was something with which both his firm and its new partner agreed.
“Western Union and Cebuana Lhuillier understand the importance of connectivity and building relationships, while keeping customers at their core,” he said.
He added that the two firms take the view that working together and pooling their resources offers an additional level of power for the companies.
“This strategic collaboration and integration of capabilities of two leaders highlights the power of combined assets to meet customers’ needs,” he explained.
He went on to say that there would be a variety of additional benefits for consumers as a result of the partnership.
“In an age when speed, reliability and convenience mean everything, we are increasing the number of touchpoints where our customers can access our services and connect with their loved ones around the world,” he said.
Some of the international money transfer partnership locations in the spotlight recently have been on the less expected side, perhaps given the capacity of the COVID-19 pandemic to open the eyes of customers around the world to the benefits of digitalisation.
However, the Philippines is definitely a regular when it comes to cross-border payments.
The country is understood to be in the top five globally when it comes to the receipt of remittances, and as a consequence, it is little surprise to see Western Union take steps to improve its market share here.
For Cebuana Lhuillier, no doubt, the move is also beneficial now that it can have the iconic and well-recognised branding of Western Union on offer at its many touchpoints.
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