New Acquisition Expected to Accelerate Market Launch, with Brazil Anticipated to be Live in First Half of 2023
Western Union European Regional Operations Center in Vilnius. (Credit: BigHead/Wikipedia)
Following a successful introduction of its digital banking offering in Europe in February 2022, Western Union (NYSE: WU) is gearing up to launch in Latin America. The Company announced the acquisition of Te Enviei, a Brazil-based digital wallet that will accelerate the time to market of Western Union’s financial ecosystem offerings in Brazil.
As part of its renewed purpose-driven strategy, Western Union is expanding its value proposition to customers by offering a broader set of digital financial services. By introducing its digital wallet in Brazil, Western Union plans to enable its customers to store funds, send money overseas and domestically, and pay their bills; all from the convenience of their phones.
“We are changing the way we interact with our customers today, moving from a transactional business to a customer-centric, relationship-based approach,” said Thomas Mazzaferro, Chief Innovation & Data Officer at Western Union. “Offering our Brazilian customers an integrated digital banking and money transfer solution will be a key milestone in this effort. We believe this acquisition will allow us to significantly accelerate our planned technology build, allowing for the faster roll out of our digital wallet in Brazil,” Mazzaferro added.
“Brazil is a strategically important market where we already hold a banking license, and it is a highly digitized banking market. Additionally, our internal research indicates that many Brazilians are looking for financial products that can address their needs in a global economy,” explained Ricardo Amaral, President of Western Union Brazil.
Source: Company Press Release