Visa and Western Union Announce Expanded Collaboration Transforming How Money Travels Cross-Border

KARACHI: Today, Visa (NYSE: V) announced a 7-year agreement with Western Union (NYSE: WU). Under the new deal, Western Union customers will be able to receive money from their family and friends’ eligible Visa cards and bank accounts in 40 countries across five regions.

The agreement encompasses card issuance, Western Union’s integration with Visa Direct, and value-added services delivery including risk products.  Western Union customers will also be able to receive Visa prepaid cards in select markets offering an innovative solution that bridges the physical and digital world.

Western Union and Visa are also developing disbursement programs for humanitarian organizations and governments to support the delivery of critical funds during a disaster. The programs are intended to support emergency and humanitarian payouts, cross-border pension payouts and domestic benefits and disbursement payouts.

“Sending money abroad to support their families and loved ones is essential for many people. We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Western Union to provide fast, secure, and convenient money transfers to customers in 40 countries across five regions,” said Umar Khan, Visa’s Country Manager for Pakistan & Afghanistan. He added: “Visa’s global scale and Western Union’s digital capabilities are revolutionizing how customers send and receive funds around the world. We are proud to offer more people fast and efficient solutions for cross-border payments.”

“Aspiring populations around the world rely on Western Union to provide them with innovative and accessible financial services that offer flexibility, value and trust,” said Sam Jawad, Head of Ecosystem, at Western Union. “By strengthening our strategic collaboration with Visa, together we will deliver impactful products and services that can help empower our customers to build a life of opportunity for themselves and their loved ones.”

The agreement builds on Western Union’s existing integrations with Visa Direct in 2022 and 2019, which enabled US and European customers to receive funds directly from eligible Visa card holders overseas.