Mexico's Elektra Renews Transfers Pact With Western Union
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
January 17, 2006 12:01 p.m.
MEXICO CITY -- Mexican retailer and consumer banking company Grupo Elektra SA (ELEKTRA.MX) said Tuesday it has renewed its money-transfer pact with Western Union for another six years.
Western Union, a unit of First Data Corp. (FDC), teamed up with Elektra in 1996 to effect money transfers, with Mexicans being able to pick up remittances from relatives living in the U.S. at Elektra's stores across Mexico.
Elektra said it has paid more than 36 million transfers for more than $9 billion in the past 12 years, including 7.6 million transfers worth $2 billion in 2005.
The company has more than 1,000 stores in Mexico and 1,400 branches of its banking unit Banco Azteca, while Western Union has 50,000 points of sale in the U.S.
Elektra said the extension of the agreement with Western Union is under similar financial arrangements, but added that it will receive $190 million and will also be able to expand its transfers network to channels other than its own outlets.
Elektra said it will become the paying agent in Mexico for transfers made by Vigo Remittance Corp., for which it has been a payment agent since 1994 in Guatemala and Honduras.
Remittances from Mexicans living in the U.S. have been expanding at a rapid rate for years, overtaking tourism as a source of foreign currency income.
Electronic transfers accounted for $16.4 billion of the $18.3 billion in remittances sent home in the first 11 months of 2005. Money orders were the next most common method, followed by cash, according to central bank data. |
