U.S. Bank First to Offer Mobile Money Transfer with Western Union

The new capability will allow customers to send money internationally through Western Union from the U.S. Bank mobile app.

U.S. Bank and Western Union are working together to bring Western Union Money Transfer to U.S. Bank customers through their mobile devices, a statement released by U.S. Bank said. The joint effort will make U.S. Bank the first bank to offer Western Union’s international transfers through its mobile app, the statement added.

U.S. Bank has been offering transfers through Western Union in its branches since 2009. The service allows customers to send money to more than 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries, according to the statement. The new partnership will allow U.S. Bank customers to make the same transfers through the U.S. Bank mobile app and online banking portal.

U.S. Bank mobile banking customers will be able to use the service by tapping on the Western Union logo in the mobile app’s person-to-person options. Customers will need to have been a U.S. Bank customer for at least a year to use the product.

“U.S. Bank customers will benefit from the company’s active push into the person-to-person mobile payments space, making money transfer more convenient for customers,” Brendan Devine, U.S. Bank’s digital money movement manager said in the statement, adding that it will make it easier for customers to send transfers internationally.

The move also helps Western Union shore up its position in the banking sector with its money transfer capabilities, Carter Hunt, Western Union’s senior vice president of commercial sales, added.

[To learn more about new opportunities in mobility in financial services, check out the agenda for the New Opportunities for Mobility: A Financial CIO/CTO Roundtable session at the upcoming Interop event in NYC.]

Jonathan Camhi has been an associate editor with Bank Systems & Technology since 2012. He previously worked as a freelance journalist in New York City covering politics, health and immigration, and has a master's degree from the City University of New York's Graduate School ... View Full Bio