Western Union (WU) Partners to Strengthen Account-Based Payment Network
The Western Union Company WU recently partnered with PT Artajasa Electronic Payment (Artajasa) in Indonesia to facilitate bank account and wallet payments for customers across the country.
Following the announcement of the latest partnership, Artajasa has been added to the list of payment partners for Western Union’s bank accounts and wallets in Indonesia. Customers can seamlessly receive international money transfers in minimal time to their respective bank accounts spread across the country. Meanwhile, the ability to receive the same transfers in wallets is expected to go live later in 2022.
Initiatives similar to the last reflect Western Union’s ongoing efforts to move money seamlessly and strengthen its account-based payment network (including bank account, wallet or card payments) across Indonesia. This perfectly positions WU to take advantage of the current scenario, in which customers are looking for transparent and reliable ways to transfer their hard-earned money, especially to bank accounts.
It is worth mentioning that Western Union is equipped with payment processing capabilities on billions of bank accounts, millions of wallets and cards in more than 130 countries and territories, among which real-time payment capabilities are available in 100 of them. The global leader in money movement has an extensive retail network in place, which offers the possibility of cash payment in more than 200 countries and territories.
The recent combination also highlights Western Union’s efforts to strengthen its capabilities and presence throughout Indonesia. Artajasa, a pioneer in electronic transactions in the country with more than two decades of experience in payment systems, seems like the right partner to complement WU’s effort.
In the past, WU has collaborated with several Indonesian financial service providers for better handling of international payments, which has led to a strong national foothold of Western Union. In August 2021, Western Union partnered with Indonesian state-owned bank Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), aiming to expand the former’s services to more than double the locations it previously served across the country.
WU is keeping a close eye on Indonesia as the country’s digital market offers ample growth prospects. A tech-savvy population in the country translates to increased smartphone usage and increased internet penetration. The availability of diversified payment tools has contributed to the growth of the country’s digital market. According to E-Commerce Analytics from leading data and analytics firm, GlobalData, e-commerce payments in Indonesia are expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% over the period 2021-2025.
Western Union has made substantial investments to build a robust digital branch, which offers fast and affordable money transfer services. The arm has proven to be of great use in the context of the rapidly growing digital economy, in which people continue to resort to digital money transfers to meet their needs. With the tilt towards digital means likely to hold over the long term as well, WU remains well positioned to witness digital revenue growth.
Western Union shares have gained 2.5% since the start of the year compared to the industrydown 3.9%.
Image source: Zacks Investment Research
WU currently has a Zacks rank of No. 4 (sell).
Similar to Western Union, other companies such as Mastercard Incorporated MA and visa inc. V have resorted to creating a strong digital arm to capitalize on the high demand for hassle-free money transfer services.
Mastercard is focused on working with global and regional financial service providers to improve the process of moving money for consumers and businesses. MA employed a digital partnership strategy and undertook significant investments to upgrade its digital capabilities.
Visa facilitates the seamless and secure real-time transfer of funds around the world. Complementing its efforts, V is pursuing collaborations to help the cross-border payments industry with innovative digital solutions to replace age-old processes. Visa B2B Connect offers innovative B2B cross-border payments and continues to add partners to its network.
A title to consider
A top-ranked stock in the financial transaction services space is WEX inc. WEX wearing Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the full list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
WEX earnings have exceeded estimates in each of the past four quarters, with the average surprise being 9.96%. Zacks’ consensus estimate for WEX earnings in 2022 suggests a 25.4% increase over the prior year’s figure, while the same for revenue points to 12.4% growth. The consensus mark for 2022 earnings has moved north 0.4% in the past seven days. WEX has a Value Rating from B
Shares of Visa and WEX have gained 0.8% and 28.1% respectively since the start of the year. Meanwhile, Mastercard stock lost 2.8% over the same period.
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Mastercard Incorporated (MA): Free Inventory Analysis Report
Visa Inc. (V): Free Stock Analysis Report
The Western Union Company (WU): Free Inventory Analysis Report
WEX Inc. (WEX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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