MasterCard, Western Union Partner on International Payments

The service will be made available to small and medium-sized businesses.

MasterCard and Western Union announced a partnership on an international payments service for small and medium-sized businesses.

The new direct foreign-exchange capability will be provided by Western Union Business Solutions, the business payments unit of the Western Union Company, and available to all companies that use the MasterCard Business Network, an online resource that helps streamline business operations and enhance productivity for small and mid-sized businesses, the companies said.

The offering will initially be available to U.S. businesses. Customers that use it will have access to a dedicated online foreign payments portal at www.mastercardbusinessnetwork.com, which will include features such as The ability to send international payments in over 135 currencies directly from a bank account to a foreign recipient’s bank account from a computer or mobile device; real-time quotes and 24 hours-per-day customer service.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio