Money transfer firm Western Union renews tie-up with India Post

Mumbai: Global money transfer major Western Union today said it has renewed its 14-year-old partnership with India Post, which is now in the race to become a payments bank.[caption id=“attachment_2024107” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A post office. AFP[/caption] After the renewed agreement, nearly 10,000 post offices will continue to serve as Western Union agents, it said in a statement here without revealing the tenure of the agreement. People can continue to receive money sent from other locations through post offices, it added. “India Post is a name to be reckoned with when seeking consumer trust, reliability and reach. Through India Post, we are able to provide financial access to millions of people across the country with utmost convenience,” Western Union managing director Kiran Shetty said. The Department of Posts is among 41 entities and individuals who are in the race to enter the soon to be introduced payments banking domain. It had earlier applied for universal bank licence, but there was some rethink on part of the government. Last week, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor SS Mundra had said the central bank hoped to issue the licences to eligible small and payment candidates by the end of the year. The applications were submitted early February. Globally, Western Union has tie-ups with over 100 postal organisations around the world. It has a network of 1.11 lakh agents in the country, of which 9,942 are post offices. PTI