This has been made possible following successful integration of Western Union’s money-movement functionalities within ecoPayz’ platform.

The integration paves the way for a new class of online payment processors to join the global Agent network of the Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement. ecoPayz branded products are offered by PSI-Pay Ltd, a global provider of instant, secure and convenient payment services to customers and businesses, which becomes Western Union’s first U.K.-based online wallet Agent.

ecoPayz customers can now top up funds online via wu.com or the Western Union mobile app where available, or use Western Union’s retail Agent network in more than 150 countries and territories. In addition, customers in the U.K. can seamlessly send domestic or international money transfers from their ecoAccounts into billions of bank accounts or for payout in cash in more than 150 countries and territories.

“Western Union is integrating our core business functionalities with third parties and their platforms to unlock new growth,” said Odilon Almeida, Western Union President, Global Money Transfer. “Our scale and omni-channel money transfer capability make it easy to integrate digital or cash money movement in today’s evolving digital financial ecosystem, allowing a greater universe of customers to be included, regardless of their digital or cash preferences.”

“We welcome ecoPayz and their customers to our global network. It is the first time we have enabled a non-bank online wallet provider in the U.K. to access the convenience of Western Union’s unique model of digital or cash in or out, 24/7, and this is a new beginning”, he said.

Plans are afoot to broaden Western Union services to ecoPayz’ mobile app as well as enable the worldwide community to send money globally, a feature activated only in the U.K.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Western Union and introducing additional services to customers that will enable them to have more flexibility within their ecoAccount,” said Jonathan Amrani, Operations Director, PSI-Pay Ltd. “By accessing Western Union’s network, customers have access to hundreds of thousands of locations around the world, and this provides us with an excellent platform to grow and reach new customers.”

Nearly one-third of banking customers (29.4 per cent) globally are using products and services from non-traditional firms, according to the 2017 World Retail Banking Report authored by Capgemini, a global consultancy, technology and outsourcing firm, and the European Financial Management & Marketing Association (EFMA).