Seven Bank Ltd. has signed an agreement with U.S.-based The Western Union Co. to offer Western Union’s funds-transfer services in Japan.
Under the agreement, Seven’s customers will be able to send funds online from their bank accounts, through mobile banking and from ATMs, according to a press release issued on March 10.
The agreement represents the first in the Asia Pacific region in which Western Union is enabling funds transfers from ATMs, according to the release.
Seven’s customers will be able to use any of the bank’s 15,000 ATMs throughout Japan to send funds that recipients can access at any of Western Union’s more than 400,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories, the release notes.
Customers may begin to use the Western Union funds-transfer service via online and mobile banking beginning March 22, while the ATM Western Union transfer service will launch in July.
Fees for the services have not yet been disclosed.
The presence of many expatriates in Japan from other Asian countries prompted Western Union to enter into the agreement, Drina Yue, managing director and senior vice president, Western Union Asia Pacific, noted in the release.
“More than 2 million people in Japan have moved there from abroad, including China, Korea, Brazil, the Philippines and the U.S., and they often are sending money home,” Yue said.
