Ericsson & Western Union join forces to fast track mobile financial services
· Ericsson & Western Union announce strategic alliance at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.
· First step is an integration of Western Union's Mobile Money Transfer Network and Ericsson suite of M-Commerce solutions to support mobile network operators further accelerate their launch of mobile financial services
· Strategic alliance enables mobile network operators to easily include Western Union Mobile Money Transfers in the service suite of their mobile financial service offers
February 26, 2012 - Global brands Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Western Union (NYSE: WU) today announced a strategic agreement designed to accelerate the interconnection between the m-commerce eco-system and the existing financial world.
The first step of this agreement will result in seamless platform integration between the Western Union Mobile Money Transfer network and the Ericsson suite of M-Commerce solutions, including Ericsson Converged Wallet, Ericsson Wallet Platform, and Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect. This will enable mobile network operators to easily include Western Union Mobile Money Transfers in the service suite of their mobile financial service offers.
Ericsson's M-commerce services portfolio is designed to unlock the potential of the wallet, fast-track mobile operators' time to market in launching mobile financial services and support the rapid adoption of M-commerce by their subscribers. The portfolio of services can speed time to revenue, increase adoption and stickiness, cost efficiency and performance for mobile network operators and deliver the technology infrastructure to support an interconnected M-commerce eco-system.
Western Union has been a market leader in mobile money transfer for the past four years. By joining forces with Western Union for these services, mobile operators can connect their accounts easily and simply to the world's premier money transfer network of more than 450,000 Agent locations across 200 countries and territories. This enables account holders to easily send and/or receive money transfers globally.
In integrating Western Union's services and Ericsson platforms, mobile network operators will be able to further accelerate their launch of mobile financial services. Operators rolling out services using the Ericsson M-Commerce solutions will be able to quickly and easily deploy Western Union Mobile Money Transfer services as well, essentially "out of the box" when they contract with Western Union.
Ericsson and Western Union will next jointly explore strategic collaborations to further simplify the establishment of mobile financial services by mobile network operators.
The alliance between these two world-leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and remittance organizations is based on a shared ambition to make mobile financial services available to consumers around the world.
Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, said: "With 2012 set to be a year of rapid transition and dynamic change across the m-commerce industry, operators and financial institutions have a chance to evolve their role and meet consumer needs and expectations in new ways. Our business ambition is to accelerate access and interconnection between the m-commerce eco-system and the existing financial world. Through this agreement with Western Union, we are helping mobile network operators and financial institutions get closer to their customers with differentiated wallet services that connect and add value to their consumers."
Diane Scott, Chief Marketing Officer and President, Western Union Ventures, said: "Ericsson and Western Union have a very powerful combination of global scale, relationships, complementary expertise and brands. Together we believe we can bring mobile financial services to more places in the world than ever before - unlocking the power of financial services for millions of people worldwide."
NOTES TO EDITORS
Ericsson & Western Union
Ericsson has a large number of long-term and trusted MNO relationships with over 450 operators, 13,000+ global pre-sales and account management staff, a reputation as a trusted an innovative ICT vendor, 1.6 billion subscribers on Ericsson's Charging System base which can be converted to m-wallet customers, Ericsson Wallet Platform and Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect platforms and solution integration expertise.
Ericsson has been a leader in technology and technology innovation for over 140 years. Ericsson has a presence in 180 countries, handles 40% of the world's mobile data traffic and has been involved in mobile payments for the last 20 years.
Western Union has a strong global consumer brand, on-the-ground marketing teams across all continents, regulatory and compliance expertise, settlement and treasury expertise, a global network of more than 450,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories, and expertise in developing and launching co-branded mobile money offerings around the world.
Ericsson's Multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room
Mobile Wallet Info graphics
http://www.ericsson.com/res/thecompany/docs/press/media_kits/mobile_wallet_final.pdf
About Ericsson
Ericsson is the world's leading provider of communications technology and services. We are enabling the Networked Society with efficient real-time solutions that allow us all to study, work and live our lives more freely, in sustainable societies around the world.
Our offering comprises services, software and infrastructure within Information and Communications Technology for telecom operators and other industries. Today more than 40 percent of the world's mobile traffic goes through Ericsson networks and we support customers' networks servicing more than 2 billion subscribers.
We operate in 180 countries and employ more than 100,000 people. Founded in 1876, Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2011 the company had revenues of SEK 226,9 billion (USD 35.0 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations:
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
E-mail: media.relations@ericsson.com
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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 Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of December 31, 2011, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of approximately 485,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2011, The Western Union Company completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $81 billion of principal between consumers, and 425 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
Western Union Corporate Communications:
Kathy Bell +1 (720) 256-7972
kathy.bell@westernunion.com
Western Union Investor Relations:
Mike Salop +1 (720) 332-8276
mike.salop@westernunion.com