OMV to offer Western Union® Money TransferSM
June 22, 2010 - 10:00 am (CET)
Western Union® Money TransferSM service to be offered at over 1,800 OMV filling stations across Central and Eastern Europe
Englewood, CO and Vienna, Austria – June 22, 2010 – The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) and OMV, the leading energy group in the European growth belt with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, have agreed to work together to provide the Western Union® Money TransferSM services at OMV retail locations. Western Union’s national and international money transfer services will be offered at more than 1,800 OMV filling stations in Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. The service will be rolled out over the next 18 months and is a further step in OMV and Western Union’s respective strategies.
This is the first cross regional filling station signing of this size in Europe for Western Union. It represents an excellent opportunity for Western Union to expand its distribution network in the region. The cooperation will add more than 300 new locations to Western Union’s existing network of over 2,900 Agent locations in Austria, and over 1,800 new locations to the existing Agent network in Central and Eastern Europe.
The cooperation represents a significant step in Western Union’s strategy to expand and diversify its Agent network into different classes of trade. It complements the company’s strategy to sign up retail locations under the European Union Payment Services Directive (“PSD”) which allows non-bank entities to offer financial services under a payment institutions licence. The cooperation with OMV would also help Western Union attract mainstream customers to its money transfer service, as well as promote intra-Euro and domestic money transfers.
OMV filling stations have been increasingly developing into multi-functional service centers putting the needs of the modern mobile customer center stage. In the VIVA shops, customers do not only enjoy refreshments and on-site prepared snacks with premium quality. OMV is also continuously expanding its range of tailor-made services for its customers. In April 2010, the OMV network with VIVA shops in Austria was equipped with special Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) which do not only feature a cash dispensing function, but also permit customers to make fund transfers and deposit money. With the Western Union Money Transfer service OMV significantly steps up its range of services all over the Central East European and South East European region. Now customers can also transfer cash from one filling station to another filling station.
Hikmet Ersek, CEO and President-elect, said: “OMV has an excellent network of filling stations throughout Central and Eastern Europe. We view the cooperation with OMV as a valuable opportunity to pursue further growth, add filling stations to our Agent network in Europe and offer more customers the opportunity to experience the speed, convenience and reliability of the Western Union Money Transfer service.”& nbsp;
Dr Gerhard Roiss, OMV Deputy Chairman said: “Western Union is an ideal partner for OMV. The introduction of the Western Union service will complement our strategy of providing a wide range of services to our customer base. We look forward to launching with Western Union over the next 18 months.”
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 Custom House branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, as well as send payments and purchase money orders. The Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services are offered through a combined network of more than 420,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2009, The Western Union Company completed 196 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $71 billion of principal between consumers, and 415 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
About OMV:
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 17,92 bn and a workforce of 34,676 employees in 2009, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. As the leading energy group in the European growth belt, OMV is active in Refining & Marketing (R&M) in 12 countries. In Exploration & Production (E&P) OMV is active in 17 countries on four continents. In Gas & Power (G&P) OMV sells approximately 13 bcm gas per year. Through its 2,000 km long gas pipeline network in Austria G&P transports approximately 75 bcm gas annually. OMV’s Central European Gas Hub is with around 23 bcm annually trading volume one of the most important gas hubs in Continental Europe.
OMV is the leading energy group in the European growth belt with oil and gas reserves of approximately 1.19 bn boe, daily production of around 317,000 boe in Q1/10 and an annual refining capacity of approximately 26 mn t. OMV now has 2,331 filling stations as of Q1/10. The market share of the group in the R&M business segment in the Danube Region is now 20%.
OMV further strengthened its leading position in the European growth belt through the acquisition of 41.58% of Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading company in the retail and commercial business.
In June 2006, OMV has established the OMV Future Energy Fund, a wholly owned subsidiary to support projects in renewable energy with more than EUR 100 mn to initiate the change from a pure oil and gas group to an energy group with renewable energy in its portfolio.
Sustainability
OMV is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, and an active supporter to the values enshrined in its Code of Conduct. These include a strong sense of responsibility towards the social and natural environment, especially in economically weak regions. OMV continuously addresses economic, environmental and social issues related to its business in a responsible manner. The Company reports on its activities in a sustainability report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines. This report is published at the same time as the annual report.