Western Union Integrates with Nigerian Mobile Payments Service (March 18, 2014)
Western Union is continuing its global expansion in mobile payments, announcing a new mobile money transfer service for Nigeria. The service is integrated directly with Paga, one of the country’s largest mobile payment platforms, with more than 1.2 million users. Paga customers can opt to receive a Western Union money transfer directly into their Paga accounts, send the funds to a bank account or withdraw cash at an ATM or one of Paga’s 4,000 agents across Nigeria.
Western Union said the new Paga-integrated service will complement its own retail network in the country, where it has 4,900 locations. Nigeria has plenty of remittance funds flowing in; the country received $21 billion in remittances in 2012, representing 9 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product, according to the World Bank.
The money transfer giant made a previous mobile remittance move in Nigeria in April 2013, when it partnered with Nigerian mobile payment operator Virtual Terminal Network.
