Global payment services provider Western Union has secured its second major UK retail tie-up of the summer with an agreement to install self-service kiosks in WH Smith stores.
The first kiosks will begin to appear in branches in England and Scotland in the final quarter of this year. A full rollout to 300 locations is expected to be completed within the first few months of 2016.
Customers will be able to enter their transaction details at the touchscreen kiosks before moving on to a self-service checkout to pay for their money transfer in a transaction that is completely paperless.
“This is the first time we are moving to a self-service solution,” said Massimiliano Alvisini, Western Union regional vice president, Northern Europe.
Giovanni Angelini, senior vice president and general manager for Europe at Western Union added: “Launching this new digital model in the UK with a well established retailer like WH Smith is encouraging as we continue with our expansion across the UK retail space.
“We are continuing to diversify our network by concentrating on top British retail brands to offer convenience for new and existing customers.”
At the end of May Western Union reached an agreement with Sainsbury’s to provide its money transfer services in all of Sainsbury’s Bank’s 170 Travel Money bureaus across the UK. As of this week, the service was available in 188 Sainsbury’s stores, and this is now set to increase to 210 by the end of the year.
“Sainsbury’s is very pleased with the number of customers going through the stores asking for the service,” said Alvisini. “Sainsbury’s has expanded locations in which they have a branch of Sainsbury’s Bank and as a result we’ve expanded with them.”
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