Sainsbury's Bank ATM

Sainsbury’s has signed up the Western Union Company to provide its Money Transfer services in all of Sainsbury’s Bank 170 Travel Money bureaus across the UK.

The new facilities will serve many of the most densely populated cities including London, Leicester, Birmingham and Glasgow with Western Union’s consumer-to-consumer money transfer services.

Sainsbury’s said the new relationship was part of Sainsbury’s Bank’s strategy to offer customers a compelling reason to bank and shop at its stores.

The agreement also included making Western Union’s consumer-to-consumer money transfer services available in future Sainsbury’s Travel Money bureaus, the supermarket group said.

Massimiliano Alvisini, Western Union’s regional vice president, Northern Europe, said the service would be extended to other branches in June and by 2016 most Sainsbury’s Bank branches would offer the facility.

Alvisini said the deal did not preclude Western Union from working with other supermarkets and it saw an opportunity to “look for partnerships”.

He said part of Western Union’s strategy was to be closer to its mainstream customers and give them more convenience to transfer funds worldwide.

Simon Taylor, head of Travel Money for Sainsbury’s Bank, said: “Our new relationship with Western Union means we can address our customers’ needs to provide a reliable transfer of money overseas while delivering great service and the convenience of doing it while they are in store doing their shopping.”