Western Union Canada

TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, - April 1, 2013 - Western Union Canada today announced that the company will be a corporate sponsor for the My Song for Change national talent contest. Building on the Western Union heritage of connecting individuals around the world through a global network in more than 200 countries and territories, the sponsorship seeks to leverage the power of music to educate, connect, transform and enrich people's lives.

Talent search participants will submit an original musical performance online at MySongForChange.com, focusing on the global issues they face in tandem with other people around the world. An online voting system will determine the top ten finalists, and an expert panel will select the winner. The winner will have his or her song, and accompanying video, produced in a professional recording studio, along with Canadian celebrity musicians Cone McCaslin of Sum 41 and Ian D'Sa of Billy Talent.

"Creating music is not only a means of expression, it can be a powerful forum to convey the global nature of Canadians' experiences, and their ties to every corner of the world," said Joycelyn David, director of marketing, Western Union Canada. "We are proud to be a part of My Song for Change, and bring important issues to life through the power of music."

"Music is a part of everyone's lives - with music you can connect with the audience in a meaningful way, no matter what you're singing about," said Cone McCaslin, bass guitarist for Sum 41. "My Song for Change is a great opportunity to comment on how music can influence both the Canadian experience, and our country's role in the global community."

"The ability of music to deliver a message that influences our society is something that I have witnessed time and time again," said Darcy Ataman, founder and chief executive officer of Make Music Matter, the Canadian non-profit organization behind My Song for Change. "We are pleased to work with Western Union Canada to launch the My Song for Change talent contest, and give Canadians the opportunity to use music to tell the stories that affect all of our lives each day."

Video submissions will be accepted on www.MySongForChange.com through June 15. Online voting to name the finalists will take place between June 16 and July 24. The expert panel of judges will convene to review the ten finalists and name a winner by July 31.

For more information on My Song for Change, please visit www.MySongForChange.com. Additional information can be found at www.facebook.com/MakeMusicMatter.org and www.makemusicmatter.org

Western Union Canada (WU Canada) asked people to spread some cheer as part of their "$5 fee for $50" holiday campaign; now it's the company's turn to cheer as the campaign received a prestigious 2013 CASSIE advertising award. "$5 for $50" won bronze in the best seasonal/short-term campaign category.

"We're very pleased to be recognized among other creative and innovative campaigns and world-renowned brands," said Joycelyn David, marketing director for WU Canada. "We have to credit our agency AV Communications for the outstanding campaign creative, planning, and execution."

Out of 416 entries to the annual award, WU Canada was among an elite group of 40 companies that were honoured.

The CASSIES celebrate "work that worked" and is the premier industry body dedicated to recognizing, rewarding and improving the business effectiveness of advertising.

Western Union Invites Consumers to Create a "Moment For Better" during Montreal's Week-ends du Monde

Western Union invites consumers to celebrate the champions of Montreal's diverse communities and create a "Moment For Better" by sharing personalized video stories during the Week-ends du monde, July 7-8 and at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

A title sponsor of the cultural event, Western Union values Montreal's diverse cultural community and connects consumers around the world by helping people send the gift of cash to their loved ones and friends. Consumers can share their digital "Moment For Better" for the chance to win CAD$2,500. Festival-goers can create a Western Union-sponsored "Moment For Better" by sharing a defining moment when a loved one or friend made a positive impact on their life, and have a chance to win CAD$2,500. There is no purchase necessary to enter or win the contest. The selected video will also be the subject of a mini documentary broadcasted on various web platforms.

Western Union was out in full force to support the Vaisakhi Parade. Check out some images we captured:

GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS), under its Western Union brand has this year committed over JMD$2.5 million dollars worth of grants and scholarships to students across the island. Some 105 children are to be direct beneficiaries of the company's generosity.

For more information, please download the PDF below

Englewood, Colo. and Toronto, Canada, June 3, 2011 - Western Union, in collaboration with L'Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) which manages Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale (INPS) pension payments for Italians living abroad, has processed the payment of more than 140,000 pensions across 60 countries since May 2010.

Western Union was chosen by ICBPI for the reliability of its service, expertise in handling cross border transactions, and its global network.

Beginning in May 2011, the Italian government via INPS mandated that overseas pensioners must prove their existence every year in order for the government to maintain updated pension payment records. Pensioners can satisfy this requirement by picking up their pensions in person at any one of Western Union's more than 412,000 Agent locations across more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, Western Union has more than 2,700 Agent locations.

The company is working hard to address challenges posed by the new verification requirement, including the lack of identification papers, changes in the spelling of names and more. ICBPI has also sent out letters to pensioners to explain and clarify the collection process, and pensioners should confirm records of their names with ICBPI before travelling to Western Union Agent locations to collect payments. Western Union continues to work with ICBPI and IINPS to identify ways to ease the process for pensioners.

Western Union is proud of its fast, reliable and simple processes for cross border money transfers and payments. Millions use Western Union to transfer money and pay bills every day - on average Western Union processes over 19 transactions per second. Currently Western Union also processes pension payments for French, Chilean and Italian pensioners overseas.

"This has been a learning process for everyone - Western Union, ICBPI, INPS. But we all share the same goal - to ensure pension payments are made to the right beneficiaries, quickly. Western Union had been paying out cash to pensioners for 12 months, before the new requirement by INPS for "proof of life" was mandated in May 2011.

"Our Agents are doing everything possible to help beneficiaries collect their pensions. However, money transfer, like all financial services, is highly regulated and we must meet strict international and national compliance laws when paying out money," said Brian Fox, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Canada - Western Union.

Pensioners who need assistance with the new processes can call ICBPI at (011) 39.0432.744.252 / fax (011) 39.0645.485.692 or email to servizio.inps@icbpi.it.

To find the nearest Western Union Agent location in Canada, go to http://westernunion.com and look for the Agent Locator Tool

Download ICBPI initiative FAQs in English.

Download ICBPI initiative FAQs in Italian.

Send money to Kenya directly into their hands.

You can now send money to your friends and family in Kenya directly to their mobile phone via M-PESA and Western Union. Simply visit a participating Western Union Agent location and make the transfer as normal giving the recipient's phon number as their address.

UNDP and Philippines national and local government collaborate to lead project

MANILA, Philippines, April 5, 2011 - The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of the Philippines today launched a US$250,000 major project wholly funded by the Western Union Foundation to harness the power of remittances from migrant workers to drive sustainable economic development in the Philippines.

The Overseas Filipinos Remittances for Development: Building a Future Back Home (OFs-RED) Project aims to launch a pilot program to pool funds from migrant workers and channel them into projects that lead to economic development and community-based enterprises in the workers' home communities.

The two-year project is made possible by a US$250,000 grant from Western Union's philanthropic arm The Western Union Foundation.

Renaud Meyer, UNDP country director in the Philippines, said: "The Western Union Foundation funded OFs-RED project will contribute to efforts in the Philippines to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the target to halve poverty by 2015, by supporting the creation of an enabling environment for overseas Filipinos and their families to use remittances for development."

The project will test a mechanism to facilitate and direct overseas remittances towards savings and investment in livelihood improvement and entrepreneurship for the poor and vulnerable, and ultimately create jobs and reduce poverty. The Philippines is the world's fourth largest recipient of overseas remittances after India, China and Mexico with US$18.76 billion sent home in 2010, or about 14% of GDP, Mr. Meyer said.

Patricia Riingen, Senior Vice President, Pacific and Indochina, said: "At Western Union, we believe that leaving home to work overseas should be a choice, not a necessity borne of lack of options. We share the dream that, some day, people in the Philippines and in developing countries everywhere will have the option to stay with their families, that jobs and opportunities at home will provide a choice and that going overseas will be but one way to make a better life. That is why we are so wholeheartedly committed to the OFs-RED project."

Western Union's commitment towards this project commenced in 2008, when the company funded an Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) report to test the interest of pooling remittance. The report found there was willingness to offer and use pooled or collective remittances to fund development, but there was no efficient mechanism to do so.

In 2009 Western Union facilitated a dialogue with multiple stakeholders from government, civil society, business and academia.

Luella Chavez D'Angelo, President of the Western Union Foundation added, "We are delighted that what commenced as a concept was tested in a dialogue and now we are turning the concept into action, collaboratively with development and government experts. This represents a breakthrough in Western Union's corporate social responsibility program here in the Philippines."

"Western Union transfers much more than money. We at the Western Union Foundation have decided to honor that by committing USD250,000 to the UNDP to develop the OFs-RED Project, which will be rolled out over in six stages over two years."

The program intends to efficiently and accountably link hard monies from overseas to create sustainable small businesses that generate jobs and economic opportunity back home in the Philippines. Upon success, the model will be replicated in different parts of the world," she said. The project will jointly be led by UNDP, the Philippines Government's National Economic and Development Authority, The Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Local Government Units and Western Union.

The six phase project will involve facilitating Governmental support for public policy inclusion of collective remittances; building awareness for the concept; getting people living and working overseas organized to pool funds; giving people at home the skills and capabilities to identify and carry out projects; promotion of the concept and mobilizing funds, including public and private fund matching and implementing a pilot between two send countries and Ilocos Norte and Taguig City in the Philippines.

Rolando G. Tugpalan, Deputy Director-General of the Philippines' National Economic and Development Authority, echoed the need for all stakeholders to work closely together. He said: "Consistent with the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, the OFs-RED Project aims to develop policies and field-test models to harness remittances for community-based enterprise development. It encourages multistakeholder collaboration to expand livelihood opportunities and create more jobs."

"We are encouraged by Western Union's commitment and hope there would be many other corporations that would follow this example," he said.

Secretary Imelda Nicolas, Chair of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, said: "The objective of harnessing remittances for development is the next frontier for development banking.

"On behalf of OFWs we applaud Western Union's leadership and hope that the banking and financial sectors will create the same enabling and creative environment as they did in microfinance," she said. She challenged finance sector leaders to take up the challenge of working with overseas Filipinos and their families, all levels of government and civil society in creating a new model for development.

These contributions represent a portion of a US$1.1 million grant from the Western Union Foundation to support the efforts of three United Nations agencies to advance the Millennium Development Goals - a set of eight internationally-agreed goals designed to reduce poverty, hunger, disease, and maternal and child deaths by 2015.

Chinese New Year is coming! You can send money to China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, for as low as $ 10 transfer fee. Send $0.01 to $500 for $10 CDN, $500.01 to $1,000 for $15 CDN. For over $1000, $9 + 1% of money sent.