Western Union to go fully digital in three years

By MERCY GAKII

Global payments firm Western Union is betting on its global footprint to go fully digital in Africa in the next three years.

The company is looking to copy the mobile money transaction model by creating a mobile app that users can transact and send money with from their mobile handsets.

“Over 50 per cent of mobile solutions in the world are operating in Africa. This is the market we want to capitalise on,” said Aida Diarra, vice president of Western Union, Africa region. She said the firm has invested in the 52 nations on the continent, and they will ride on the growing numbers of the youthful population that is yet to own personal mobile handsets. She said Kenya is a country of interest as records show that there is an increasing outflow of money to other nations, including India and China.

President Odilon Almeida said the company will ride on the agency banking model to reach potential customers in remote locations in Kenya and Africa. Western Union’s points of sale are largely restricted to banking halls, while its users mostly send money across borders.

SOURCE:THE STAR