Receiving Funds Requires No ATM Card
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Union Financial Services,
Inc., a subsidiary of First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC), and American Express today
announced an agreement to provide Western Union(R) Money Transfer(SM) services
to consumers at American Express owned and operated automated teller machines
(ATMs).
The wire transfer ATM service will be piloted in Atlanta, Boston,
Cleveland, Los Angeles and San Francisco early in the third quarter of 2000.
The service will be rolled out to additional markets throughout 2000 and in
early 2001. The companies are targeting 6,000 ATMs within the American
Express network to receive this service.
The Western Union Money Transfer service will allow consumers to send
funds from a Western Union agent location to any participating ATM in the
United States. To receive funds through the Western Union ATM Money Transfer
service, consumers simply type in their identification number and system-
assigned confirmation code. No bankcard is necessary to receive the funds,
and because the combination of identification codes will be unique for every
transaction, the process is extremely safe and secure.
According to Western Union, the service will expand and enhance the
company's U.S. retail agent network, which currently has more than 28,000
locations nationwide.
"Our partnership with American Express marks a new era for Western Union"
says Mike Yerington, president, Western Union North America. "By creating a
fully automated means of transferring funds, we will achieve a level of
unsurpassed security and convenience for consumers. As a result, we expect
our overall transaction volume to grow."
"We are excited to be at the forefront of this innovative ATM capability
and to fulfill our promise of providing additional financial services via our
ATM network," says Eugene DeSilva, vice president of new business ventures at
American Express. "Providing around the clock access to money transfers is a
great value to our mutual customers and a terrific opportunity for our
merchant partners to attract more consumers."
Western Union also plans to enroll other ATM owners/operators in the
network. "We believe our transaction volume can accelerate as we enroll other
ATM owners/operators," Yerington added. "Unlike current ATM transactions,
this represents an entirely new opportunity. Growth in the network will only
increase the appeal of the service."
Western Union acquired the exclusive license rights to the technology
covering cardless ATM transactions from Plano, Tx.-based EDS. EDS will also
provide data processing and transaction switching services to support the new
network.
American Express is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network
services company founded in 1850. It is a world leader in charge and credit
cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products,
insurance and international banking. For more information, visit the company
on the Internet at http://www.americanexpress.com.
Western Union Financial Services, Inc. is a worldwide leader in consumer
money transfer services. The company provides rapid money transfer service
through more than 80,000 agent locations in 180 countries worldwide. Famous
for its pioneering telegraph service, the original Western Union dates back to
1851 and introduced electronic money transfer service in 1871. For more
information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.westernunion.com .
Atlanta-based First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) helps move the world's money.
As the leader in electronic commerce and payment services, First Data serves
more than two million merchant locations, 1,400 card issuers and millions of
consumers, making it easier, faster and more secure for people and businesses
to buy goods and services. For more information, please visit the company's
Web site at http://www.firstdatacorp.com.
SOURCE Western Union Financial Services, Inc.; First Data Corp.;
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Related links:
http://www.americanexpress.com
http://www.westernunion.com http://www.firstdatacorp.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/138116.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 138116
CONTACT:
Peter Ziverts of Western Union, 303-488-8017;
or Tom Schilling of Intermountain RKH, 303-534-5409, for Western
Union; or Joanne Fisher of American Express, 212-640-6466
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