Majority
of Western Unions SEND customers to India reside in U.S., U.K., France, Germany
and Australia.
The
major options for Western Union RECEIVE customers are a) across the counter at
a Western Union Agent Location or b) Bank account credit.
For Bank account credit, Western Union
piggybacked on the NEFT platform. However, NEFT has its own limitations as
compared to IMPS.
Way back in September 2013, Western Union
innovation team closely looked at NPCIs’ Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) to
enhance its customer’s experience.
Due to the time difference between India
and other countries there was a lag between the SEND time and the RECEIPT time,
even when the RECEIVE option was a Bank Account.
NPCI’s IMPS with its feature of instant
money transfer was a very attractive proposition. Reserve Bank of India recently
approved IMPS to facilitate cross-border money transfer within minutes to
select banks.
This led to Western Union to offer funds
transfer through NPCIs’ IMPS to its SEND customers. The service has been
launched in collaboration with IndusInd Bank.
The process flow is as under
01)
The SENDER
opts to transfer through cash and debit cards at participating Agent locations,
or debit and credit cards at www.westernunion.com.com at this time.
02)The funds move to the Western Union settlement
account at Indusind Bank.
03)Finally through NPCIs IMPS channel the
RECEIVER the funds in his/her bank account.
Benefits
of this Channel:-
01) 24*7 service
02)Facility available on Holidays too
03)Quick reversal of funds in case of invalid account number or
any other reasons if credit is not possible
