New Alliances Add to Growing List of National Postal Organizations and Banks
Serving as Western Union Agents
DENVER, June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC), a global
leader in electronic commerce and payment services, today announced that its
Western Union Financial Services subsidiary has added the Republic of
Tajikistan to the growing list of countries served by its international money
transfer network. With the addition of Tajikistan Western Union services are
now available in all of the former Soviet Republics.
Agreements with the Post of Tajikistan, Orienbank, Amonatbank and
Sohibkorbank will create an estimated 50 Western Union agent locations
throughout Tajikistan by year-end. Several agent locations have already begun
offering Western Union Money Transfer services in Dushanbe, the nation's
capital, and in the city of Khudjand. The companies anticipate increasing the
number of agent locations to approximately 400 by the year 2006.
"Western Union has been working diligently to expand our presence
throughout the former Soviet Republics," said William Thomas, president,
Western Union International. "The addition of Tajikistan is an important
final step in that process.
"These relatively new nations are working diligently to increase the
economic opportunities for their citizens," continued Thomas. "One way of
doing that is to make it easier for expatriates, who have left the country in
search of other opportunities, to provide financial support to their loved
ones at home. Our new agreements with the Post of Tajikistan and several of
the nation's top banks mean that Tajikistani emigres can now depend on the
convenience and reliability of Western Union when providing that support."
Both postal organizations and local banks provide Western Union an
important link to communities around the world and have become valued agent
partners. The alliances with Orienbank, Amonatbank and Sohibkorbank
complement Western Union's recent agreements with Bank Rakyat Indonesia and
the National Banks of Uzbekistan. The agreement with Post of Tajikistan also
adds to Western Union's growing number of agreements with national postal
organizations, including the recent additions of Australia Post, India Post
and China Post.
About Western Union Financial Services, Inc. and First Data
Western Union Financial Services, Inc., a subsidiary of First Data Corp.
(NYSE: FDC), is an international leader in consumer money transfer services.
Consumers can quickly, safely and reliably pay bills and transfer money around
the globe using the company's proprietary money transfer network. Western
Union and its subsidiary, Orlandi Valuta, together make up one of the world's
largest money transfer networks with a total of approximately 124,000 Agent
locations in more than 185 countries and territories. 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 .
First Data Corp., with global headquarters in Denver, helps power the
global economy. Serving approximately 2.8 million merchant locations,
1,400 card issuers and millions of consumers, First Data makes it easy, fast
and secure for people and businesses to buy goods and services, using
virtually any form of payment: credit, debit, smart card, stored-value card
or check at the point-of-sale, over the Internet or by money transfer. For
more information, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.firstdata.com .
SOURCE Western Union Financial Services, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.westernunion.com
CONTACT:
Wendy Carver Herbert of Western Union
Financial Services, Inc., +1-303-967-6416,
wendy.carver@firstdatacorp.com
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