Western Union joined forces with Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), a state-owned Islamic bank in Indonesia, last week in order to provide new services to BSI banks.
The new expansion into Indonesia adds over 750 locations in the Western Union financial network and offers a wide variety of new banking options to the Southeast Asian country.
"We are very pleased to expand our relationship with BSI and offer cross-border remittance services in more locations across the country. At the heart of what we do at Western Union is connecting people, allowing them to move money around the world. With BSI we remain committed to maintaining the widespread service and working collaboratively to reach more customers together," said K. Premmananth, head of Singapore, Indonesia and North Asia, Western Union, according to Business Wire.
Customers in Indonesia will now be able to send and receive money in more than 1,400 BSI locations throughout the country and can connect to friends and relatives in more than 200 countries and territories.
“BSI is the largest sharia bank in Indonesia and we are pleased to expand our services with a global leader such as Western Union," Kokok Alun Akbar, retail banking director, BSI, said on Business Wire. "Previously, we offered Western Union services at over 650 locations and are now glad to double the location count. Together we will continue to evolve the services we offer – working to make it easier, faster, and more convenient for our customers to connect with their families and loved ones across the world."
As the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia is among the top remittance recipients in the East Asia and Pacific Region in 2020, according to World Bank. BSI was founded on Feb.1, 2021, as a result of a merger between state-owned sharia banks including Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Syariah Mandiri.
Western Union is an American banking company headquartered in Denver, Colorado.