Western Union taps RobinsonsBank as first direct agent bank

MANILA, Philippines - Western Union Co., a global leader in money transfer services, is tapping the Gokongwei-led JG Summit Group's banking and retail businesses, the company said. Besides allowing the company to strengthen its presence in the remittance market, the move also aims to further increase growth last year, which exceeded industry levels. Western Union Co. chose thrift lender RobinsonsBank as its first direct agent bank in the Philippines, the company said in a statement. The partnership will enable Western Union “to consolidate our position in this exciting market, ensuring our customers in every major island, province, district, and city in the Philippines have access to fast, reliable, and convenient international and domestic money transfer services," Patricia Zamora-Riingen, Western Union Senior Vice President for Pacific and Indochina, said. As a result, Western Union Money TransferSM services will be introduced at RobinsonsBank’s 46 branches in the country. Meanwhile, within a year, the company’s money transfer services are expected to be available at a hundred additional retail locations of JG Summit in a year’s time. “We are pleased to see RobinsonsBank joining a global roster of leading institutions which recognize that collaborating with Western Union represents the best strategy for tapping into the $400-billion global remittance market," she said. Western Union has over 6,300 agent locations in the Philippines through retail network of a wide variety of agents such as department stores, supermarkets, pawnshops, and travel agencies. The New York Stock Exchange-listed company surpassed the 13.7 percent growth in remittance in 2008, it said. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said money sent by Filipinos and coursed through banks reached $16.4 billion last year. "This relationship builds upon Western Union’s strategy of teaming with trusted local businesses," Zamora-Riingen said. For its part, the Gokongwei-controlled thrift bank can now reach out to a wider community through Western Union’s global network of over 375,000 agent locations in more than 200 countries and territories, RobinsonsBank Chairman Lance Gokongwei said. The alliance will allow the lender to “meet the growing demand for fast, reliable and convenient money transfer services," Gokongwei said, adding the launch of Western Union Money Transfer services is one of its strategic initiatives to expand its retail banking services portfolio while extending international and domestic market coverage. The JG Summit Group also owns Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Department Store, the MiniStop convenience store chain, and Digital Telecommunications (Sun Cellular Mobile), which represents a network of more than 300 retail touchpoints. - Ruby Anne M. Rubio, GMANews.TV