New way to pay allows customers to shop global, pay local

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 25 February 2019 - The Western Union Company, a leader incross-border, cross-currency money movement, today unveiled a new payment option that allows Amazon.comcustomers in Hong Kong to pay in local currency for their Amazon.compurchases. The service is being offered initially in 10 countries -- Chile,Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan andThailand -- enabling customers who prefer to pay in cash to shop Amazon.com'svast product selection.

Western Union'splatform is powering Amazon's new cross-border payment option, called AmazonPayCode, by processing the complex foreign exchange, settlement and moneymovement requirements for international e-commerce transactions.

After selecting PayCodeon the Amazon.com checkout page, customers will be sent a code, along withinstructions on how to pay in person at a participating Western Union® agentlocation. The move by Western Union and Amazon will provide greater access toonline goods for customers who have largely been excluded from e-commerceshopping due to lack of accepted payment methods.

Expanding Customer Access and Closing the Payments Gap

Forrester Researchestimates that cross-border shopping will represent 20% of e-commerce by 2022,with sales reaching $630 billion.¹ Choice, quality and cost are themain motivations for customers to shop online from overseas, but there arechallenges and concerns about the lack of payment options for those who preferto pay in person or those who do not have access to international credit cardsor debit cards.

"We're helping tounlock access to Amazon.com for customers who needand want items that can only be found online in many parts of the world," saidKhalid Fellahi, SVP and General Manager of Western Union Digital. "This is agreat example of two global brands innovating and collaborating to bringcustomers more convenience and choice. In a world where cross-border buyers andsellers are often located on different continents and in completely differentfinancial ecosystems, our platform is ideally suited to solving the complexityof collecting local currency and converting it into whatever currency merchantsneed on the other end." 

"Amazon is committed to enabling customers anywhere inthe world to shop on Amazon.com, and a big part of that is to allow customersto pay for their cross-border online purchases in a way that is most convenientfor them", said Ben Volk,Director, Payment Acceptance and Experience at Amazon. "Amazon PayCodeleverages the reach of Western Union to make cross-border online shopping areliable and convenient experience for customers who do not have access tointernational credit cards, or prefer to pay in cash."   

For more informationabout the new Western Union payment option, visit: https://www.westernunion.com/paylocal/hk/. For more information about AmazonPayCode visit: https://www.amazon.com/paycode_HongKong.

¹Source: ForresterResearch, "Online Cross-Border Retail Forecast, 2017-2022 (Global)", April 20,2017

About Western Union's Cross-Border Platform

Western Union'scross-border, cross-currency money movement platform -- including a robustdigital footprint, settlement, treasury and compliance infrastructure, a vastglobal retail network of over half a million locations, and the ability to sendmoney to billions of accounts and mobile wallets -- sets the standard forinternational money movement. With operations in more than 200 countries andterritories, Western Union's platform processed an average of 34 transactionsevery second and moved $300 billion in principal across 130 currencies in 2017.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company is a global leader incross-border, cross-currency money movement. Our omnichannel platform connectsthe digital and physical worlds and makes it possible for consumers andbusinesses to send and receive money and make payments with speed, ease, andreliability. As of December 31, 2018, our network included over 550,000 retailagent locations offering Western Union, Vigo or Orlandi Valuta branded servicesin more than 200 countries and territories, with the capability to send moneyto billions of accounts. Additionally, westernunion.com, our fastest growingchannel in 2018, is available in more than 60 countries, plus additionalterritories, to move money around the world. In 2018, we moved over $300billion in principal in nearly 130 currencies and processed 34 transactionsevery second across all our services. With our global reach, Western Unionmoves money for better, connecting family, friends and businesses to enablefinancial inclusion and support economic growth. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.