Over 30 million MoMo customers in Vietnam are now able to receive Western Union money transfers through the MoMo app, after the two financial services firms struck a deal.
Funds can be digitally received and collected from over 200 countries by searching ‘Western Union’ in the MoMo app, inputting the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN), and redirecting the transfers to the MoMo app and from there into bank accounts held with any of the 50 partner banks.
The partnership serves to enhance both companies’ digital strategies and pipelines, with Western Union’s recently announced Evolve 2025 strategy to “offer high-value, accessible digital and retail financial services”.
“At Western Union, we value digital innovation and accessibility,” Atish Shrestha, Head of Indochina at Western Union, said.
“For the first time in Vietnam, a money transfer operator’s capabilities will be integrated within a super app, offering even better experiences to customers. We are excited to collaborate with a likeminded company as MoMo is – focused on offering innovative services that scale cross-border capabilities for consumers in Vietnam.”
The announcement comes after research conducted by Western Union found 81 per cent of Vietnamese consumers “want money transfer providers to integrate capabilities into one ‘super app’”.
The World Bank in 2022 also found Vietnam was the 10th largest remittance-receiving country in the world and third largest in East Asia and the Pacific, receiving close to USD$19 billion.
“It’s our pleasure that MoMo is the first Vietnam fintech company to offer a service such as this with Western Union in order to support Vietnamese receiving cross-border remittances,” Do Quang Thuan, Senior Vice President in charge of the Financial Services Business Unit at MoMo, said.
“Through our research, we found that there was a rising need among overseas Vietnamese to send small amounts of money home to their families in Vietnam. Thanks to the new service, Vietnamese will now be able to receive Western Union money transfers through MoMo for many purposes such as family support and festive and celebratory occasions.
“Through low cost and speedy remittance services, MoMo wishes to bring people closer together, bridging the gap between Vietnamese overseas and their families in the country.”