Under the clauses of the agreement, ICBC will provide essential assistance to Western Union to trigger the account based money transfer service which will allow customers to receive funds in US or RMB currencies.
Western Union president and CEO Hikmet Ersek said providing account based money transfer services through a large bank such as ICBC is another demonstration of the ongoing changes at Western Union.
"While we provide much needed services to people throughout the world, we also understand that our customers are seeking more choices and convenience, which our agreement with ICBC will be able to accommodate," Ersek added.
"Thanks to our robust Western Union cross-border money transfer platform, we are now able to complement our more than 36,000 location strong Agent network in China to include banking online channels giving consumers across China the choice to manage their international money transfers with flexibility."
Western Union has already partnered with Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), Agriculture Bank of China (ABC) and China Everbright Bank (CEB) for account based money transfer services in China.
The aforesaid mentioned banks facilitate their customers with on-line banking to direct international money transfer received through Western Union into their bank accounts, while CEB also offers its customers outward remittances services.
ICBC has a portfolio of 282 million account holders, of which 115 million are activated for online banking.
The Western Union Company, 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 across the globe.
