The Western Union Co. said Thursday that it is teaming up with cellphone-service providers to develop a system that would allow consumers to transfer money from country to country via their mobile phones.
Western Union has successfully tested cellphone money-transfer services in a number of U.S. cities. It will work with the GSM Association, an international trade group of cellphone-service providers, on commercial and technical issues to enable services to be offered internationally.
The Douglas County-based money-transfer company expects to launch its mobile service in the second quarter of 2008. It will connect a cellphone user to a Western Union operator who will complete the transaction using special company software.
Thirty-five cellphone operators that belong to the trade association will participate in the program, which will be headed by Sunil Mittal, chairman and managing director of Bharti Airtel. “This initiative will bring down the cost of lower-value and high-frequency mobile remittances considerably and also enable smaller amounts to be transferred in a fast and secure fashion, thereby benefiting millions of people in the developing world,” Mittal said.
The association represents more than 700 mobile-phone operators in 218 countries and territories to promote easy use of wireless services.
