New Western Union Service at Newsagents

• Western Union has partnered with the group in charge of maintaining the French Tabac Presse network and is now preparing an especially crafted funds transfer service.

• Western Union counts on 43,000 newsagents and tobacconists to expend its French distribution network.

• Setting up these kinds of services should enable newsagents to get commissions on each transaction thus increasing and diversifying their revenue.  

Source: La Tribune

• This announcement occurs as the French newsagents’ network has just been impacted by a new increase in tobacco prices and is seeking new means to diversify their activities.

• For Western Union, this new project could help expending its distribution network and reaching new customer segments in increasingly multiservice, highly frequented locations. In 2010, the group had already signed a partnership with Devlyx, to benefit from a distribution channel of 8,500 tobacconists.

• In 2010, MoneyGram also partnered with 2,500 newsagents in France to the same end, increasing its locations from 59 points of sale to nearly 1,000 in one year.