Western Union Financial Services, Inc., a worldwide leader in money transfer services, has announced the launch of the Western Union Card SM in the Cayman Islands.

The Western Union CardSM program automates portions of the Western Union Money Transfer® process, making transactions easier and faster for consumers than the manual process of filling out forms every time a transaction takes place, states a press release.

Rather than filling out forms, the customer simply presents the Western Union Card SM along with proper identification and signs a receipt to finalize the transaction.

‘We have always looked for ways to improve the Western Union customer experience,’ says Jeffrey Webb, Manager of Business Development at Fidelity, ‘and the Gold Card is a major breakthrough. We are pleased provide our valued customers with an easier way to stay connected with their loved ones abroad.’

The Western Union CardSM has been launched in select regions in Europe, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. Cayman is among the growing group of Caribbean islands to receive this new technology due to the well-positioned and island-wide reach of Western Union’s Agent, Fidelity. Regionally, Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominican Republic and Aruba are among the many islands that have launched the Western Union Card.

‘Using the Western Union Card will result in improved service to customers,’ said Mike Hagerty, Western Union chief marketing officer, ‘by providing faster service and virtually eliminating the possibility of delays due to data entry errors. We’re making it even easier to do business with Western Union.’

Enrollment in the Western Union Card program is free as an expression of gratitude and appreciation to Western Union’s loyal customers.

Who they are

Western Union Financial Services, Inc., a subsidiary of First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC), is an international leader in consumer money transfer services. Consumers can quickly, safely and reliably pay bills and transfer money around the globe using the company’s proprietary money transfer network. Western Union and its subsidiary, Orlandi Valuta, together make up one of the world’s largest money transfer networks with a total of approximately 220,000 Agent locations in more than 195 countries and territories. Famous for its pioneering telegraph service, the original Western Union dates back to 1851 and introduced electronic money transfer service in 1871. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at www.westernunion.com.

First Data Corp., with global headquarters in Denver, helps power the global economy. Serving approximately 4.1 million merchant locations, 1,400 card issuers and millions of consumers, First Data makes it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses to buy goods and services, using virtually any form of payment: credit, debit, smart card, stored-value card or check at the point-of-sale, over the Internet or by money transfer. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at www.firstdata.com