Offered by WU’s business payments unit Western Union Business Solutions, the new direct foreign-exchange capability is available to all companies that use the MasterCard Business Network.
MasterCard US commercial products group head Jay Singer said that the firm aims to assist SMEs to compete and succeed in an increasingly global market by providing the resources, tools and products they need.
"Our new service with Western Union will give these businesses an added option for situations when a vendor may not accept credit card payments, or when business card limits may be insufficient for a specific invoice," Singer added.
Currently, the service will be available in the US only and SMEs can send international payments in over 135 currencies directly from their bank account to a overseas recipient’s bank account from a computer, tablet or mobile phone.
MasterCard payments processing network connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in over 210 nations and regions.
WU completed 231 million consumer-to-consumer transactions globally in 2012, moving $79bn of principal between consumers, and 432 million business payments.
