The Hindu Business Line : Western Union to maintain rural focus

Western Union Money Transfer will continue its focus on rural India, according to Mr Ratheesh Kumar, Country Director (Southern and Eastern India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives), Western Union Services India Pvt Ltd.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr Kumar said that more than 60 per cent of the 50,000-odd agent locations are in rural areas. This helps in providing financial access to people in rural areas where there are great opportunities for remittances.

“We plan to grow by more than 50 per cent, including in rural areas,” he said.

However, Mr Kumar said, the biggest challenge lies in spotting the right opportunities. The number of people migrated out of India is much higher in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

“So we need to look at seizing the opportunities in these markets where the returns will be much higher and we can get more consumer value. This will be our strategy in terms of identifying the right markets,” he said. Western Union is also looking at Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu markets for growth.

He said that a significant chunk of remittances are used for the maintenance of families in India.

Western Union has entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel for launching a mobile money transfer product. A pilot project is on for the product.

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