An initial pilot, called ‘Transfer Protect’, launched this week in France with AXA Partners, offers Western Union’s customers sending money via westernunion.com the option to seamlessly sign up for a life and disability insurance solution. This will help provide peace of mind to the migrant population knowing that their designated family members or loved ones will receive a payment in case of an unfortunate life or disability event.
This announcement is in line with AXA’s ambition to significantly contribute to financial inclusion through its AXA Emerging Customers division. This business aims to serve low income to mass market populations by accelerating the development of adapted and relevant insurance and protection services. For Western Union, this is a new step in their customer centric strategy to enrich the value it provides to customers by integrating adjacent financial services seamlessly through its global omni-channel platform.
“Our customers around the world trust Western Union with their most important and complex money transfers. They also want other value-add services to sustain their financial well-being and long-term financial goals. Providing value to the global populations we serve is a key focus for our global strategy. This new partnership will provide a new way for us to facilitate value added products and services to the millions of immigrants and dual-belongers through westernunion.com. AXA is a worldwide leader whose financial inclusion strategy is well-aligned with ours, and we are excited about the opportunities that our collaboration presents.” - Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union
“AXA is committed towards providing inclusive insurance, a business with high social impact. We are excited to leverage Western Union’s extensive network and trusted brand to reach its global customer base, thereby bringing accessible, relevant and affordable protection to those who need it most.” - Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer of AXA
According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development 2017 report* around 200 million people, mostly from low and middle-income segments of the society in emerging countries, regularly send money back home, supporting 800 million family members. However, migrants working abroad face increasing levels of uncertainty, occupying riskier and more unstable jobs. Losing their earning capability can have highly damaging consequences for their families, for whom cross-border remittances represent on average 60% of their total income.