Western Union, which specialises in money transfer services, has signed a three-year renewal agreement with Hong Leong Bank (HLBB) to extend its offering of money transfer services throughout the 283 HLBB bank locations in Malaysia.
Chew Mei Ling, Malaysia Country Director at Western Union, said, "Outward and inward remittances have been growing in Malaysia. Western Union's renewal of the agreement with HLBB will support this growth. This will enable HLBB's customers to continue to use Western Union's fast, reliable and convenient money transfer services."
Susan Wong, General Manager, Retail Deposits and Remittance, HLBB, said, "Total outward remittance for workers has shown a significant growth of 27.8% in 2014 versus 2013*. Collaborating with Western Union reflects a huge opportunity for us in accelerating the remittance business and meeting the growing consumer needs for real time money transfer."
Since the passing of the Money Services Business Act in 2011 that defined stipulations for the licensing, regulation and supervision of the money changing, remittances and wholesale currency business, there has been a tremendous increase in outward and inward remittances, with a three-year compounded annual growth rate of 30% and 20% respectively*. This growth is due mainly from senders converting from informal to formal channels for money transfer driven by greater public awareness on the value of using legal channels for remittances plus additional and easier money transfer options through mobile and Internet remittance services.
*Source: 2014 Annual Report, Bank Negara Malaysia.
