Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Western Union Selects YellowPepper for Digital Vendor Program

http://westernunion.comWestern Union Announces New Participant in Digital Vendor Program

YellowPepper First Vendor in Latin America to be Certified to Deliver Western Union Money Transfer® Service Capability



ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a global leader in money-transfer services, announced today that it has selected YellowPepper, a mobile financial solutions provider in Latin America, to participate in its Digital Vendor program. YellowPepper is the first vendor in Latin America to be selected for the program.



Western Union introduced the Digital Vendor Program earlier this year. The program is intended to extend the reach and accessibility of Western Union Money Transfer® services to mobile finance initiatives across the globe.



YellowPepper provides products and services that enable mobile financial transactions between financial institutions, businesses and consumers in Latin America. The company offers a variety of services, including mobile top-ups, transfers from a bank account via cell phone, and bill payments via mobile. The company currently has operations in seven countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panamá, Perú and the United States. In addition, YellowPepper has agreements with major mobile operators in the region, including Claro and Movistar.



“YellowPepper is well-known for providing convenient, easy-to-use services throughout Latin America,” said Matt Dill, SVP and Head of Western Union Digital Ventures. “They also have strategic relationships with some of the biggest mobile operators in the region, and we feel that this alliance is a great opportunity to introduce cross-border transactions into their established, trusted system.”



Western Union is certifying mobile platform vendors to reduce integration costs and accelerate go-to-market activities for banks and mobile operators by creating standard technical deployments. Once a bank or mobile operator contracts with Western Union to activate the Western Union® Mobile Money Transfer service, its consumers will be integrated with Western Union’s core transaction processing system. This system supports Western Union’s global network of more than 350,000 Agent locations in over 200 countries and territories.



“Each YellowPepper product addresses essential financial needs,” said YellowPepper Founder and President Serge Elkiner. “Now, more than ever, mobile financial solutions are critical to Latin America’s underserved financial community. We are very excited about working with Western Union, a global leader in payment services and money transfers, to introduce cross- border mobile money transfer services in our region.”



Other vendors in Western Union’s Digital Vendor program include: South Africa-based Fundamo, India-based mChek, U.S.-based Sybase 365 and Singapore-based Utiba Pte.



About the Western Union Digital Vendor Program



The Western Union Digital Vendor Program is open to mobile finance platform vendors who have successfully deployed a mobile money offering. Certified vendors agree to maintain current version control against the Western Union Money Transfer service interface. Certification is a technical designation and is subject to periodic review by Western Union. Mobile operators and banks interested in offering Western Union services should contact mobilemoneytransfer@westernunion.com. A direct contractual relationship with Western Union is required to activate Money Transfer services.



About Western Union



The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta and Pago Facil branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, as well as send payments and purchase money orders. Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta operate through a combined network of more than 400,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2008, The Western Union Company completed 188 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $74 billion of principal between consumers, and 412 million consumer-to-business transactions. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.



About YellowPepper



YellowPepper Mobile Financial Solutions provides products and services that enable mobile financial transactions between financial institutions (banks), businesses, and consumers in Latin America. With one and a half million users, YellowPepper operates in Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Perú, and Panamá as a service provider for 35 financial and non-financial institutions. For more information, visit www.yellowpepper.com.



Source: Company Press Releae



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