Western Union, SBI to launch mobile money transfer service

Western Union and State Bank of India today said that SBI account holders will soon be able to route overseas money transfers directly into their bank accounts using just their mobile phones.

In July, Western Union announced the introduction of its account-based money transfer (ABMT) service, to be launched in early-2011. This service enables SBI customers with online bank accounts to route Western Union money transfers directly into their accounts via the Internet.

The new mobile service will provide SBI customers with an additional option to direct Western Union money transfers into their accounts anytime and anywhere, a press release issued here stated.

"India is a key market for Western Union," Western Union's Managing Director for South and South-East Asia, Anil Kapur, said.

"Western Union has more than 61,000 agent locations in India. As we continue to expand our network, this collaboration with SBI realises our commitment to provide our consumers with the greater convenience of accessing money sent by their families and loved ones from overseas," he said.

SBI has 110 million account holders, of which more than four million are registered for online banking. Western Union's account-based money transfer service complements SBI's nationwide network of more than 12,000 branches currently offering Western Union money transfer services.

Western Union Regional Vice-President for India Kiran Shetty said, "By leveraging our global 'hub' for moving money, we are able to continually offer new and innovative choices for SBI customers to transfer their money from Western Union directly into their accounts through mobile phones."

The agreement between SBI and Western Union will enable consumers to send money from any of Western Union's 3,80,000 agent locations abroad directly to an SBI account.