Western Union has introduced its new money-to-account service in Kuwait to help Pakistani expats in the country to remit money directly into their bank accounts back home.

A leader in money transfer and global payment services, Western Union said the new service with the banks in Pakistan is being done through Summit Bank, one of the fastest growing commercial banks in the country.

Highlighting the importance of the service, Sobia Rahman, Western Union’s regional VP for Gulf, Pakistan & Afghanistan said, "Western Union Money-to-Account new service complements the already large network of over 7,000 locations in Pakistan. Western Union is innovating and developing money transfer services tailored to the needs of our customers."

"We are well positioned at the nexus between cash and traditional banking platforms and this new service can help consumers get cash into or out of the financial system," Rahman stated.

"Now with this new money transfer service the expatriates can directly send in their money into over 20 million bank accounts in Pakistan within 24 hours from all Western Union locations in Kuwait," she said.

Remittances sent by Pakistanis living and working abroad crossed $12 billion during the period July 2011 - May 2012 . Since the launch of the Pakistan Remittances Initiative (PRI), inward remittances through the banking channel have increased considerably from 75 per cent in 2009-10 to 91 per cent in 2011-12.

"Our consumers will have the convenience of receiving their funds within one working day depending on the time of transfer," she added.-TradeArabia News Service