Western Union Reaches 500,000 Agent Location Milestone

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment

services, today announced it has opened the 500,000^th Agent

location through which it provides its expanding portfolio of financial

services. The network spans more than 200 countries and territories, and

is a centerpiece of Western Union’s strategy to provide mainstream

financial services – either cash, card or digitally-based – to

underserved consumers and businesses globally.

To commemorate the occasion, Western Union announced a $500,000

commitment to fund economic development and entrepreneurship programs in

New York City, China, India, Mexico and the Philippines over a five-year

period.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony in New York City today to celebrate the

opening, attendees included: Ms. Liu Yi, Commercial Counselor, Consulate

General of the People’s Republic of China in New York; Ambassador Prabhu

Dayal, Consul General of the Republic of India in New York; the Hon.

Carlos M. Sada Solana, Consul General of Mexico in New York; the Hon.

Mario Lopez de Leon, Jr., Consul General of the Republic of the

Philippines in New York; Seth W. Pinsky, President, New York City

Economic Development Corporation; and Fatima Shama, Commissioner,

Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs, New York City.

Western Union’s 500,000^th location is Freedom News in New

York City. The business is owned by Deepak Patel from India, who

migrated to the United States in 1986 in pursuit of a better life.

Having worked late nights, sometimes 24-hour shifts across newsstands in

the New York City subway system, today Deepak is living his dream,

owning multiple retail stores in New York.

Complementing its core money transfer business, Western Union also is

the leading non-bank provider of cross-border business payments, for

mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The estimated

international SME cross-border business payments market is $24 billion.

Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO Western Union said, “Western Union is

changing quickly. Building on our strong global fundamentals – our

brand, Agent network and regulatory expertise – we are creating a more

dynamic organization and product set focused on the underserved market –

economically viable consumers and businesses whose financial services

needs are not being met fully by other segments of the industry.”

“Our vision is to establish one million Western Union touch points – in

every corner of the globe where anyone, anywhere can send a money

transfer, pay bills, obtain and reload a prepaid card or pick up funds

sent through a Western Union yellow phone or the Internet. We believe

access to financial services is not a luxury, it’s a necessity,”

concluded Ersek.

Remittances contribute to economic stability around the world, by

serving as a critical source of foreign capital in many countries.

Western Union is a leader in this $416 billion annual cross-border flow¹

of resources, completing 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions

worldwide, moving $81 billion of principal between consumers, and

completing 425 million business payments in 2011.

For more than 160 years, the familiar signs of Western Union have stood

as a trusted symbol for connecting friends, family and businesses around

the world. Western Union was founded in 1851 as the New York and

Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. The company changed its

name to Western Union in 1856 to mark the consolidation of several

telegraph lines in what was then the Western-most reaches of the

American telegraph system. Western Union first introduced money transfer

in 1871.

¹AITE, “Cross-Border Consumer Money Transfers: An

Update,” July 2011.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment

services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western

Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union

provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient

ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to

purchase money orders. As of March 31, 2012, the Western Union, Vigo and

Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network

of approximately 495,000 agent locations in 200 countries and

territories. In 2011, The Western Union Company completed 226 million

consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $81 billion of

principal between consumers, and completed 425 million business

payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

WU-F, WU-G