The Western Union Company, a leader in global payment services, recently announced it will launch international "direct to bank" money transfers to Mexico from the United States via the Grupo Financiero Banorte’s UniTeller network.

"Thanks to this international collaboration, Western Union customers in the US can send money directly into qualifying Banorte bank accounts - and soon to other Mexican banks - giving customers new choices based on their use, need, and convenience."

An agreement recently signed between Western Union and UniTeller, will allow Western Union customers in the US to send cash directly into more than 60 million individual bank accounts in Mexico.

The UniTeller network currently covers the top banks in Mexico.

Planned for launch in the first quarter of 2015, customers will be able to send international money transfers direct-to-bank from participating Western Union retail agent locations, westernunion.com, and directly from Western Union smart phone mobile applications from the US.

"UniTeller and Banorte are leaders in Mexico in the offering of financial services to the beneficiaries receiving money from friends and relatives abroad, continuously seeking for new ways to process international transfers," said Ricardo Velazquez, Head of International Banking, Trade Finance, and Financial Institutions of Grupo Financiero Banorte. "With this agreement, beneficiaries of remittances in Mexico will find it very convenient to open an account at our bank and directly receive the funds through Western Union with the benefit of value added banking services."

"This agreement will enhance the international payment services for our customers in Mexico. As a leader of remittance processing services, UniTeller continues to support the end to end services for our customers in Mexico and abroad," added Alberto Guerra, CEO of UniTeller Financial Services at Grupo Financiero Banorte.

"Thanks to this international collaboration, Western Union customers in the United States can send money directly into Banorte accounts and soon to other Mexican banks giving customers new choice based on their use, need, and convenience," added Odilon Almeida, President Americas and European Union of Western Union.

"We are excited to offer our customers in Mexico a new way to conveniently receive money. Although receivers in Mexico continue to have a strong preference for cash and our retail growth has been solid, we believe the direct to bank services will bring in new types of consumers who prefer to receive funds in accounts.

"Expanding into the banking channels of Mexico in collaboration with UniTeller is a significant development; we are proud to uphold our promise to continually enhance convenience and choice for our customers," said Almeida.

Western Union’s direct-to-bank product cements the company’s advancement into the bank remittance segment. More than $528 billion in remittances was moved across the world in 2013 according to the World Bank. Western Union offers direct-to-bank services in 50 countries including seven of the world’s top 10 remittance receiving, developing countries — India, China, Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and soon to be Mexico.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil, and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable, and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments, and to purchase money orders. As of September 30, 2014, Western Union, branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories, and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks. In 2013, The Western Union Company completed 242 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82 billion of principal between consumers, and 459 million business payments. For more information, visit westernunion.com.

About UniTeller

UniTeller is an International Money Payments Processor based in the United States and one of the largest players in Money Transfers to Mexico, Latin America, and Asia. Uniteller is a whole subsidiary of Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of the largest financial groups in Mexico and Latin America.

About Grupo Financiero Banorte