Wind strikes Western Union money transfer deal

Wind Telecomunicazioni (Wind Italy), the third largest player by subscribers in the Italian mobile market, has joined forces with global payment services firm Western Union to allow Wind subscribers to send money transfers from their mobile phones; recipients will be able to pick up their funds in cash at one of more than 450,000 Western Union agent locations in 200 countries and territories around the world. Maximo Ibarra, Wind’s business unit consumer director, commented: ‘We are very proud to be the first mobile operator in Italy to provide our customers with an open loop Mobile Money Transfer service’. Western Union currently offers its Mobile Money Transfer solution to users in Bangladesh, Canada, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania and the US.