Western Union's Marwan Forzley Introduces WU Pay

Email

Share

Western Union just launched WU Pay, a new way to pay for goods and services bought online. WU Pay leverages Western Union’s 44,000 agent locations throughout the U.S. to make online shopping better and safer. Here are the five things you need to know about the money transfer company’s latest venture.

How was WU Pay developed?

WU Pay is the direct product of Western Union’s October 2011 acquisition of the eBillme platform. Marwan Forzley, eBillme’s founder, says his company’s partnership with Western Union has been mutually beneficial.

“Western Union’s ownership and capabilities make WU Pay a significantly stronger offering than we had as eBillme alone,” Forzley says. “WU Pay’s payment capabilities, reach and safety create a platform that will have significant appeal to both merchants and consumers.”

What accounts are used to pay with WU Pay?

WU Pay lets customers buy online using either their existing bank accounts, or at one of Western Union’s 44,000 agent locations.

How is WU Pay more secure than other online payment methods?

When a consumer uses WU Pay, they don’t need to provide an account number or any credit card information — just an email address. WU Pay then emails the bill directly to the consumer, at which point the consumer can either use a bank’s online bill pay option, or bring payment to a Western Union agent location. WU Pay is safer because it doesn’t require the customer to disclose sensitive financial information at the point of sale.

Which merchants accept payment through WU Pay?

Hundreds of merchants accept payment through WU Pay, including Sears, Kmart, Buy.com, and Tiger Direct. Beyond those merchants, several dozen other retailers allow consumers to buy gift cards using WU Pay, including Amazon, jcpenney, The Home Depot, Dell, and American Airlines.

What does WU Pay mean for Western Union’s overall growth?

“WU Pay is an integral part of the ongoing change taking place at Western Union,” said Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union. “WU Pay not only propels us further into the digital payments space, it improves our core money movement capabilities by combining the strengths of our brick-and-mortar Agent network and WesternUnion.com with the proven eBillme platform we acquired last year. This is a truly powerful combination of physical and online assets that will make safe and secure e-commerce possible for just about anyone.”