Payments processor Western Union has announced it is has been engaged by Amazon to launch a new payment option that allows international shoppers to pay in person, in local currency where available, for their online purchases. Western Union’s money movement platform will power a new payment option for cross-border customers shopping on Amazon.com. Customers in select countries will be able to shop on Amazon and pay in person, in local currency, through the Western Union agent network.
There are people in the world who want greater access to Amazon’s huge product selection but paying for those purchases has been a real obstacle for many customers. We’re leveraging our money movement platform to make it easier to shop global and pay local. By facilitating the complex foreign exchange and settlement process, we’re opening up more consumer choices and access to online shopping for tens of millions of potential new Amazon customers.
– Hikmet Ersek, president and CEO, Western Union
Western Union’s cross-border, cross-currency money movement platform – including a robust digital footprint, settlement, treasury and compliance infrastructure, a vast global retail network of over half a million locations, and the ability to send money to billions of accounts and mobile wallets – is a popular provider for international money movement. With operations in more than 200 countries and territories, Western Union’s platform processed an average of 32 transactions every second and moved $300 billion in principal across 130 currencies in 2017, they say.
Tamebay readers with long memories will recall that in the earliest days of ecommerce Western Union was very much the unsafe way to pay online with many newcomers to shopping online getting ripped off by crooks who required payment by Western Union, specifically for eBay purchases. With that in mind, it will be interesting to know what safety measures have been put in place to inspire customer confidence.
One Response
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