Western Union Vietnam

Vietnam, 20 April 2010 - Consumers in Vietnam can now receive money from overseas across all Vietnamese provinces with the availability of Western Union® Money TransferSM services in nearly every district and town1 , said The Western Union Company, a leader in global payment services.

Two Vietnamese banks - Mekong Housing Bank and Military Bank - became the latest Agents to offer Western Union Money Transfer services directly, now allowing consumers to receive money from 37 banks in Vietnam.

"With Western Union services offered in over 2002 countries and territories around the world, our global and local network in Vietnam provides our consumers with a dependable choice to receive international money transfers anytime and from anywhere.

"Vietnam continues to hold its position within the top 10 remittance-receiving markets in the world3. We are proud to say through our Agents we have been serving our consumers in Vietnam for over 15 years, and continue to strengthen our Agent network in keeping with our commitment of being wherever our consumers need us to be.

"In recognition of Vietnam's growth potential as a developing economy as well as its policies to enhance the welfare of Vietnamese overseas, Western Union continues to increase its Agent network in Vietnam hinged on service reliability and compliance. The signing of Mekong Housing Bank and Military Bank as direct Agents is testimony to these goals," Patricia said.

Some of the Western Union® Agent locations in Vietnam open 365 days a year and outside normal business hours. Five of the Western Union Agent locations in Ho Chi Minh City offers 24/7 service which provides consumers unmatched convenience of choosing locations that suit their schedule.

"Western Union is a trusted and preferred brand among Vietnamese," said Ly Nguyen, regional director, Indochina, Western Union. "Our unparalleled brick and mortar network is a significant competitive advantage and our industry leading compliance systems and expertise are critical in cross border money transfer. We believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunities in Vietnam."

Amid the challenging global economic environment last year, Western Union posted another year of market share gains in its consumer-to-consumer business, increasing its cross border remittance market share from 17% in 2008, to an estimated 18% in 2009.

Western Union and its Agents' efforts in bringing reliable money transfer services to consumers were recognized by The Asian Banker recently. For the second year in a row, Western Union has won The Asian Banker's coveted "Excellence in Remittance Business 2009" award across Asia Pacific. Western Union's market leadership in the remittance business in a difficult year reinforced by higher growth and profitability, innovative network and channel expansion differentiated it from a strong list of nominees, said The Asian Banker.