The Western Union International Bank has joined the Single Euro Payments Area Instant Credit Transfer scheme (SCT Inst) as a Direct Participant, further enhancing the company’s real-time payment capabilities in Europe.
Joining SCT Inst allows Western Union to offer its consumers—across the 24 countries and more than 2,300 financial institutions that take part in the scheme—additional instant money transfer and payment options, available 24/7, providing more choice and convenience and further improving speed and reliability. Progressively, SCT Inst participation will enable consumers using Western Union’s global financial network, spanning more than 200 countries and territories, to send and receive instant payments to/ from the scheme’s participating countries and financial institutions.
Shelly Swanback, President, Product and Platform for Western Union, said: “Joining SCT Inst as a Direct Participant is a significant milestone, reflecting Western Union’s role as an important financial services provider in Europe. We continue to invest in expanding our real-time payment capabilities, as we work to give consumers additional options and convenience across platforms, devices, borders and currencies.”
SEPA Instant Credit Transfer enables pan-European credit transfers, with funds made available on the account in less than ten seconds. The scheme forms part of the Single Euro Payments Area, launched in 2008 by the European banking and payments industry with the support of national governments, the European Commission, the Eurosystem and other public authorities. SEPA has harmonized the way non-cash euro payments are conducted and covers several countries beyond the euro area or the European Union.
“Today, we offer the largest digital global network coverage within the cross-border, person-to-person (P2P) payment sector. Our global account payout capabilities are available in more than 125 countries with real-time capabilities in approximately 100 countries. Already, over 60% of our global account payout transaction volume is delivered in real-time. But we don’t stand still: we continue to work to serve as many customer segments and use cases as we can, offering consumers choice, speed and reliability,” Swanback concluded.
The Western Union International Bank is an agile, customer-focused independent bank, leading digital innovation for money transfer, business payments and banking products for Western Union. Located in Vienna, it supports money transfer services in 32 countries across Europe.
