Western Union goes after Indian SME sector with IndusInd Bank
Western Union Business Solutions, a unit of the Western Union Company, announced that it has partnered with IndusInd Bank Limited to bring its technology platform for making global business and foreign exchange payments to the doorsteps of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India.
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"Small and medium-sized enterprises are essential to India's economy," said Raj Agrawal, President, Western Union Business Solutions. "There are nearly 30 million Indian SMEs that make a significant contribution to the country's GDP. This arrangement will not only bring improved access to foreign exchange products for SMEs but will also increase the ease and efficiency with which they trade with their global partners."
IndusInd Bank has also signed up two of Western Union's largest agents, Weizmann Forex Ltd and Paul Merchants Ltd, as referral agents to help market the service in India. The service will launch at select Paul Merchants Ltd. and Weizmann Forex Ltd. Western Union locations in 22 cities across the country and aims to provide doorstep service to clients.
Customers will be able to request a visit from a trained representative of Paul Merchants Limited or Weizmann Forex, allowing them to book a cross-border transaction from their home or office. This service will be offered under license by IndusInd Bank and will be particularly valuable for small businesses that currently need to commit resource and travel time to arrange payments for international suppliers. Additional benefits include:
Efficient processing and payment reconciliation, ensuring all parties know when funds will be delivered;
Transparent pricing and increased payment visibility so that clients know the exact amount of funds the recipient will receive;
Automatic email notifications to both sender and receiver upon a transaction being booked;
A wide selection of currencies powered by Western Union Business Solutions' global payment infrastructure with over 100 currencies expected as the service expands.
"While the larger businesses often manage to get the best deals for their cross-border payments, it has been seen that the SME segment does not always get the same level of services. We are confident that this technology offering will help us bring stronger service service to support Indian SMEs," said Ramesh Ganesan, Executive Vice President, IndusInd Bank Limited.