Headlines:
Western Union Lands Bank of Africa Job
Western Union Financial Services Inc. has signed an agreement with Bank of Africa Group to provide remittance services for immigrant workers who want to send money to family members back home.
Western Union, a unit of First Data Corp. of Denver, said Thursday that it would work with its affiliates Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, two other First Data money transfer services that primarily serve the Americas, to send funds to Bank of Africa's 100 locations in Madagascar, Benin, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast.
Khalid Fellahi, Western Union's regional vice president for Africa, said by telephone from Casablanca that the company already has an agency relationship with Bank of Africa in Benin and Burkina Faso and plans to establish ties with the bank in the other six countries.
Though he would not discuss any exclusivity arrangements in this agreement, Mr. Fellahi said banks in developing nations tend to work with a single remittance processor to ease compliance with international anti-money-laundering requirements and other regulations.
Western Union, which plans to spin off from First Data in the fourth quarter, says it has more than 9,000 agent locations in 46 African countries.
Remote-Capture Software Uses QuickBooks
BServ Inc. has introduced a remote-capture imaging system for small businesses that use Intuit Inc.'s popular QuickBooks accounting software.
The San Francisco vendor, which does business as BankServ, announced the product Thursday. When users convert paper checks into images and transmit them to a bank for deposit, the DepositNow A/R for QuickBooks software will automatically update the accounting records.
BServ claims that it is the first remote-capture software to incorporate this QuickBooks function. More than 3 million small businesses in North America use QuickBooks.
BServ plans to test the software for 60 days at three major East Coast banks and then make it available in September.
David F. Kvederis, BServ's president and chief executive, said in a press release that combining electronic deposits and automatic updates to a company's accounts could "build momentum for increased acceptance of remote deposit. This product could be what convinces many businesses that it's time to make the transition."
