The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a worldwide leader in money
transfer services, today announced that it has reached an important
milestone in the growth of its global Agent network. With its latest
opening in Chandigarh, India, Western Union and its affiliates,
Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, now offer services through 300,000 locations
around the globe.
Western Union continues to expand its global Agent network in
response to consumer demand, fueled by long-term global migration
trends, which create increasing cross-border remittances. In 2006, the
World Bank reported that the global cross-border remittance market was
estimated to be $269 billion.
"The past year has been one of the most exciting in Western
Union's long history," said Christina Gold, President and CEO, The
Western Union Company. "The newly independent Western Union is shaping
its own future by continuing to deliver quality and value to our
consumers and Agents around the globe. The announcement of our
300,000th Agent location is just one example of our commitment to
customer satisfaction and the enhancement of the Western Union Agent
network."
"Western Union continues to create rich opportunities by
strengthening its brand, expanding and deepening relationships with
consumers by re-investing in growing the business and strategically
adding new agent locations to the Western Union network," said Hikmet
Ersek, Executive Vice President and Managing Director Western Union,
Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia. "According to the World
Bank, India is the largest receiver of remittances with $23.4 billion
received in 2006 alone, making it very appropriate that our 300,000th
Agent location should be opening in India."
Western Union has more than 36,000 agent locations in India across
more than 4,000 cities, towns and villages. This includes over 8,500
post offices, over 14,000 branches of leading banks and over 14,000
locations of leading public- and private-sector companies. Our newest
agent location is run by Paul Merchants Limited, a principal agent for
Western Union in India since 1998.
About The Western Union Company
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leading provider of
global money transfer services. Together with its affiliates, Orlandi
Valuta and Vigo, Western Union provides consumers with fast, reliable
and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, as
well as send payments and purchase money orders. It operates through a
network of approximately 300,000 Agent locations in over 200 countries
and territories. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
About Paul Merchants
Paul Merchants Limited (PML) is the flagship Company of the
renowned "PAUL MERCHANTS" Group based at Chandigarh, a conglomerate
having prominent interest in fields like Forex, International Money
Transfer, Finance, Immigration, Tours & Travels and Holidays Packages
and Air Ticketing. The Group also has a presence in the Entertainment
Industry, Distribution of Petroleum Products and Distribution of
Telecommunication Services. Paul Merchants Limited is listed on Delhi
Stock Exchange.
PML commenced Money Exchange business in 1995 and at the moment is
one of the leading players in Money Exchange arena & is rated amongst
top ten sellers of American Express (AMEX) Travelers Cheques in India.
The company is already well established in the money exchange business
and is in all the major cities across the length and breadth of the
country. Paul Merchants Limited had already been operating as a
Western Union Agent, but this new long-term agreement broadens the
corporation.
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