Western Union, one of the leading money transfer intermediaries in the world, has launched a new service in Romania, in cooperation with payment processor MasterCard and local lender Banca Transilvania.

The service allows people who receive money sent through Western Union to load the money on their MasterCard or Maestro cards through the Banca Transilvania ATMs, regardless of the bank that issued the card. Western Union representatives said this service was a world premiere.

“Our research shows that those who use Western Union services for money transfers want fast, safe and easy to use services that are always convenient. The new receiving option allows clients to access their funds rapidly and easily,” said Gabriel Sorbo, vice-president Western Union for the South East European region.

He added that the new service was in line with Western Union’s policy to focus more on the money transfers via electronic channels, which are growing significantly faster than the cash to cash transfers as more people want to receive money electronically.

“We decided to launch this new service in Romania because here our service are tailored for people who receive money,” Sorbo explained.

Money transfers to Romania totaled some USD 3.4 billion in 2014, placing the country fifth in Central and Eastern Europe, according to World Bank data. Money transfers from Romania to other countries are still much under that level.

Western Union and Banca Transilvania launched another world premiere in 2010 when those receiving money through Western Union could withdraw them from Banca Transilvania ATMs if they had cards issued by the bank.

The novelty of this new service is that it is available also for non-Banca Transilvania clients if they have MasterCard cards.

“Nowhere else does this service make more sense than in Romania, where the level of electronic payments is very low,” said Cosmin Vladimirescu, general manager of MasterCard Romania. “By integrating the money inflows from Romanians abroad to those in the country in the electronic environment, a safe and transparent environment, we reaffirm our commitment to increasing the fiscal compliance level in the local economy,” he added.

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editor@romania-insider.com