- International money transfers giant links with Debenhams department store
- Debenhams will now offer money transfers to 200 countries from 112 stores
Western Union, the world’s largest (and oldest) cross-currency international money transfers company, has just announced that it will be extending its reach in Britain via one of the country’s most established department stores: Debenhams.
Debenhams is a leading global, multi-channel brand with a uniquely British pedigree. Courtesy of the new partnership with Western Union, it will now provide money transfers to over 200 countries from the 112 stores nationwide that offer travel money bureaux.
Customers will be able to complete the entire transaction instore at a Debenhams Travel Money Bureaux, or initiate it using the Western Union Mobile App and then settle up at a Debenhams location of their choice. They will also be able to let receivers collect their cash at agent retail locations or after paying out to mobile wallets or bank accounts, wherever available.
Following its launch in 2011, the Western Union Mobile App has steamed ahead to become one of the most broadly connected cross-border payments apps in the entire money transfers industry, linking customers to multiple destinations, channels and different pay-in and pay-out choices.
Commenting on the new initiative, Western Union’s President of Global Money Transfer, Odilon Almeida, said: “We are delighted in welcoming Debenhams – an international brand with a proud British heritage – into Western Union’s iconic family of agents. As a part of Western Union’s broader fintech and innovation strategy, the company is extending its digital transformation by integrating digital services across our physical agent network.
Almeida went on to note how contemporary consumers are eager to discover alternative options to send or receive money, including via the internet, mobile applications, bank, retail, kiosk and e-wallet platforms. He said that Western Union is excited to offer this extended choice to Debenhams customers.
The choice appears to be a wise one. Debenhams has a bricks-and-mortar presence in nearly every major high street across the UK, serving many of the country’s most heavily populated cities. These include the capital, London, as well as Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester and Leeds. Internationally, it boasts 240 stores in 27 countries, providing its global customers with a uniquely “Debenhams-esque” mix of differentiated and exclusive international brands as well as its own.
Expressing the retail giant’s excitement to be working with Western Union to deliver a superb travel money service to Debenhams customers across Britain, Head of Debenhams Personal Finance Andy Newman explained that there were currently more than 100 stores with travel money bureaux nationwide and a total of 6 new bureaux opening in the coming months.
He added: “We are committed to constantly developing our offering to ensure our customers receive the best possible service, and we look forward to another successful year ahead under our new collaboration with Western Union.”
The Debenhams link-up is but the latest in an expanding roster of agent locations that Western Union has set up in Britain. It now has over 6,400 across the country, offered by major retailers including John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Ryman and WHSmith.
In February, in a move that signalled its willingness to embrace the more innovative and experimental end of the money transfers market, Western Union announced that it was piloting a series of settlement tests with up-and-coming cryptocurrency money transfers platform Ripple, using its digital currency xRapid.
