LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced that following a highly successful six month pilot, it is formally launching Western Union® cross-border money transfer services with retailer and financial services provider John Lewis.

Western Union continues to grow its retail Agent network in the UK by collaborating with diverse retailers from upmarket department stores to specialty and convenience stores, to enhance convenience and offer cross-border money transfer services to the broadest group of consumers.

Western Union money transfer services have been rolled out across 31 Bureaux de change in John Lewis stores across the UK, including London, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

Giovanni Angelini, Senior Vice President and General Manager European Union at Western Union, said, “Facilitating choice and convenience for customers is our number one priority. Collaborating with a reputable retail brand such as John Lewis allows us to serve consumers looking for an accessible, fast and reliable service.”

“Our experience tells us that consumers wishing to send cross-border money transfers are interested in a range of options to send money, whether it is cash across retail establishments, via their bank accounts or ATMs, via digital access through their phone, tablet or their social network. Receivers are also looking for just as many ways to receive money.”

Western Union is advancing its capability to fund money transfers by offering customers in select countries the choice of various methods for funding transactions, including online, via mobile, at ATM and kiosk locations or at a Western Union retail Agent location.

Conversely, Western Union is advancing its capability on the receive side by offering customers in select countries the opportunity to collect money in cash, into a mobile wallet, onto a card, and directly into billions of bank accounts worldwide.

Massimiliano Alvisini, Regional Vice President, Northern Europe and Iberia at Western Union, commented, “John Lewis is a much-loved brand on the British High Street, renowned for its forward-thinking approach and first-class customer service. We are pleased to team up with this company to bring Western Union services to their customer base.”

Dino Marcangelo, Senior Manager for New Business Development at John Lewis Finance, said, “John Lewis Foreign Currency is delighted to be cooperating with Western Union to offer customers money transfer services. This step marks our ambition to continue to broaden our growing financial services business and we are pleased that the roll out of Western Union services to our Bureau de change at 31 of our department stores have proven to be a big hit with customers.”

About Western Union:

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of December 31, 2016, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 550,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks, and included the capability to send money to billions of accounts. In 2016, The Western Union Company completed 268 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $80 billion of principal between consumers, and 523 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

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