Western Union Expands Partnership with Visa

• Western Union is bolstering its partnership with Visa by expanding its integration with Visa Direct.
• Visa Direct is Visa’s real-time money movement network.
• The expansion will bring Visa Direct to Western Union’s U.S. clients, enabling them to send money in near-real-time to Visa debit cards in Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Romania, and Thailand.

Money transfer firm Western Union is building on its partnership with Visa this week. The Colorado-based company is expanding its integration with Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time money movement network.

Under the agreement, the pair will bring Visa Direct to Western Union’s U.S. clients, enabling them to send money in near-real-time to Visa debit cards in Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Romania, and Thailand. Western Union and Visa first teamed up in 2019 to enable Western Union customers in more than 20 countries across Europe to send and/or receive funds directly to Visa debit card holders.

“Western Union and Visa share a vision for modern money movement, one that ensures cross-border payments are reliable, efficient and transparent, with convenience and the customer’s channel of choice at the center of our customer experience,” said Western Union President of the Americas Gabriella Fitzgerald. “Our partnership with Visa underscores the benefits that collaboration brings to realizing this shared vision for our joint customers around the globe.”

Visa first launched Visa Direct in Europe in 2017 as a real-time payments platform to allow companies to leverage Visa’s global reach and scale for cross-border payments. In addition to Western Union, nearly 550 partners, including Adyen, The Bancorp, Fiserv, and Stripe support Visa Direct solutions.

“Visa is transforming cross-border payments with Visa Direct by helping to bring the ability to securely send and receive funds in near-real-time to more use cases around the world,” said Senior VP North America Head Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore. “Through this partnership, we are using Western Union’s digital capabilities to help US customers send money to their family and friends and provide a means to help with bills, as a gift, or for an emergency.”

Founded in 1851, Western Union is one of the oldest cross-border money transfer pioneers. The company’s global financial network bridges more than 200 countries and territories and approximately 130 currencies. In a partnership earlier this year, Western Union integrated Marqeta’s payment cards solution into its digital wallet and digital banking platform in Europe.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto