Western Union Partners with Banca Intesa Sanpaolo
- The fund transfer specialist Western Union partnered with Banca Intesa Sanpaolo. Its payment services will then be available through the Italian bank’s network.
- From June 2011, eleven million Banca Intesa Sanpaolo customers will be able to send money abroad using about 7,200 ATMs and, in the months to come, via the Internet or their mobile phone.
- SuperFlash prepaid cards cardholders will also benefit from this service. These cards are available in branches or online.
- According to the World Bank, international fund transfers originated by immigrant populations (215 million people in the world) reached 325 billion in 2010; and are expected to grow 7% in 2011. In France, fund transfers would represent eight billion euros (France is then fifth sender country, most transfers go to the Maghreb region and sub-Saharan Africa)
- This market shows very strong potential, which explains why so many banking and non-banking players are interested in it. This sector used to be dominated by a small number of specialised operators, such as Western Union. These players now benefit from local networks and a certain quality of service (deadlines, coverage) that new comers struggle to equal. For these reasons, some banks, like Banca Intesa Sanpaolo or La Banque Postale in France prefer a partnership approach.
- Players have to face several issues: ensure local, regional and international fund transfer functions, rely on local partners likely to perform money distribution and make sure they know the customers who use their services to comply with regulatory requirements.
- Nevertheless, a tendency to avoid these historical players can be noted (partnership between Auchan and Transcash, for instance, and resulting issuing of more than 10,000 active cards). Retail players can advantageously rely on their network. In developing countries, mobile operators generally are the ones imposing new models.
- Banks too seem to be looking for new alternatives. In Turkey for instance, ISBank proposed "Cebe Havale" services allowing mobile, online or ATM P2P fund transfers. Just as well, we should note the recent agreement between La Banque Postale and Attijariwafa Bank –well established in the Maghreb region and West Africa–, which would allow the French bank to develop its network in this region.