Banks and non-banking financial institutions are evolving new business models and information technology interventions to reach the unreached. The latest to join the bandwagon is Western Union, one of the world’s leading remittance services provider.
Having over 90,000 agent locations, including its presence in over 7,000 India Post office and 30,000 bank branches in India, Western Union is introducing a pre-paid card that can be used by people in villages (and the urban poor who do not have bank accounts) to save, withdraw money from ATMs, make payments at shops, and transfer money.
Western Union has tied-up with ICICI Bank and Master Card for its pre-paid card business. In a news report, Mr Kiran Shetty, Managing Director, Western Union India, is quoted saying: “Largely, we are serving blue-collared workers, who have no bank accounts. These workers have no amount limit issue but frequency issue. This is a new category and we will not be just limited to payments but want to promote more such products, this year.”
For ‘how it works’ details from ICICI Bank click here, and to get the Western Union press release, click here.