Beginning February 3, for only $10, customers of Western Union (WU) will be able to go into any of its retail locations in The Bahamas with cash in hand and send funds directly to billions of accounts in more than 50 countries, including The Philippines, The United States of America, Nigeria, China and Mexico.
With this limited-time offer, the new “Direct-To-Bank” service will afford customers the benefit of walking into any of WU’s more than 20 retail locations in New Providence and the Family Islands, and pay $10 to transfer cash that will reach the destination bank accounts within minutes or a maximum of two days, depending on the country.
For 166 years, Western Union has provided a distinctive cross-border solution for moving money with speed in the form of its global settlement and payments platform, extensive compliance capabilities and regulatory licenses – all with the goal of connecting people around the world.
The service, officially launched in this country on February 1, 2018, is a major feat for the “leader in global payment services”, as Andre Largie, WU’s Global Money Transfer Lead, Caribbean Region notes. Largie said that The Bahamas is an important market for WU. An important element of the company’s strategy is to be as close as possible to where its customers live and work and enable services that adds value and provides even greater convenience.
“Now we have the capability to accept cash from a customer here in The Bahamas and deliver that cash to an account across the world,” said Largie at the product launch reception held at The Balmoral Club. “That service, we refer to, is ‘direct- to-bank’ or ‘send to an account’ and that service is enabled at all of our Western Union locations here in The Bahamas.”
“This is very important because not every market has this opportunity. But at Western Union, The Caribbean and most certainly, The Bahamas, is very, very important to us. Enabling our services here and delivering our services in communities that are underserved by financial institutions is something that we take great pride in.”
The announcement was received with applause and smiles especially from the Filipino and Haitian communities attending the reception.
According to Vice President of the Filipino Association of The Bahamas, Florita Viterbo, the service will provide the safe transfer of funds to loved ones back home.
“This service, their new service of sending money direct to the banks—Oh my God you cannot imagine—because in The Philippines, there are so many crimes, especially when it comes to money matters,” she said. “When they send directly to the bank, they don’t have any worries of going to the Western Union shop to pick up their money. They will have peace of mind that it’s in my account, and it can stay there and I don’t need to be worried about crime.”
Charlene Jean said she will definitely spread the message about the new service to the Creole Community.
“As a Bahamian of Haitian descent, we are happy, and we are elated that Western Union is here serve the Creole community,” she said. “From what I have gathered, the rates are cheaper and the customer service will be spectacular.”
In January, WU announced the opening of its locations in New Providence, Abaco, Andros and Grand Bahama in alliance with its three agents: Sun Cash, Money Maxx and Grace Kennedy Money Services.
WU’s future plans include further expansion and on-going improvement of its products and services.
“You can expect us to work even harder to serve the people of The Bahamas,” said Largie. “You can expect us to work harder to expand our locations.
“We are currently in over 20 locations in The Bahamas and some of the Family Islands and we are working hard to expand that even further. You can expect us to continue to innovate and to deliver even more greater value to our customers here in The Bahamas, and you can expect us to continue to deliver money in minutes, safely and securely,” Largie said.
