Western Union Bolsters Real-Time Account Payout Capability

MUMBAI:
Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the International arm of National Payment Corporation of India, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bolster real-time[i] bank account payouts in India.

NIPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India and an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This collaboration will enable customers in India to receive international money transfers in real time into their bank accounts in the country.

“Western Union’s account payout network enables payout into billions of accounts globally – these accounts are not just limited to bank accounts; it’s any consumer account globally, whether it be at a bank or even a mobile wallet or card,” said Sohini Rajola, Head of Middle East and Asia Pacific, Western Union. “Customers want more, and our account payout network capability represents a natural evolution in Western Union’s cross-border platform and omni-channel strategy to reach new digital-savvy, banked and mobile enabled consumers.”

“We are excited to collaborate with NIPL, expanding and optimizing our account payout footprint and ultimately further strengthening our joint offering. India is a strategic market for Western Union and this collaboration is key to our efforts to expand real time payments solutions, expanding the breadth of our current offerings to ensure customers have all the options available to them to move money the way they prefer,” added Rajola.

India is a highly banked country, with 80% of Indian adults[ii] holding an account. Bank accounts are one of the pillars of India’s financial inclusion. Over the next few months, the two companies will work closely together to enable bank account holders in India to receive cross-border money transfers seamlessly and instantly, including using UPI IDs.

Globally, Western Union can process payouts into billions of bank accounts, including millions of wallets and cards across more than 125 countries and territories, with real-time capabilities in 100 of these countries. Additionally, it also offers payout in cash at approximately 600,000 agent locations in 200+ countries and territories.

NIPL, being an internationally focused subsidiary of NPCI, is looking to drive deep collaboration with overseas partners in the areas of remittance, acceptance, and real-time payments infrastructure, using indigenously developed technologies in digital payments.

“We are delighted to join hands with Western Union to facilitate instantaneous and interoperable cross border digital payments,” said Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NIPL. “This strategic partnership will benefit millions of Indian citizens to seamlessly receive money from overseas. We at NIPL, constantly strive to create a robust and innovative payment infrastructure to create a superior customer experience. We are confident that this initiative will stand as a testimony to NIPL’s technological capabilities and vision of scaling their unique offerings globally.”

According to the World Bank, in 2020, India was the top remittance-receiving country in the world, a spot it has held since 2008. Western Union serves customers via a range of retail and digital solutions in India, facilitating convenient service access for all. Currently, Western Union’s agent retail network in India has more than 110,000 locations.