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Western Union (WU), Cencosud in Chile Team Up for Remittances

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The Western Union Company (WU - Free Report) recently announced that the company has partnered with Cencosud to send remittances abroad. The service is expected to be available in Chile’s Jumbo and Santa Isabel supermarkets. The partnership is expected to enable customers to utilize Western Union’s network and send money to more than 200 countries.

Cencosud supermarket customers from more than 250 Jumbo and Santa Isabel stores are expected to be able to send money, up to $1,000 per month, in a secure and efficient manner, due to this partnership. Cencosud is a leading retailer in the Americas with operations in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and other countries.

The partnership is expected to boost WU’s footprint in the Chilean market. The deal also signifies how companies partnering with Western Union can enhance their value proposition. Thanks to its growing capabilities and network, along with different sizes of companies, major countries around the world partner up with Western Union, positioning it for long-term growth.

Last month, it teamed up with Mexico-based financial services provider and specialty retailer Elektra to provide diversified money transfer choices across the country. This June, WU signed a MoU with the Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippines to provide remittance-related support for Filipino workers working outside the country. Its focus on expanding its footprint in the growing economies is commendable.

Moves like this help WU to remain in a leading position in the global remittance market and increase its C2C unit revenues. The unit reported revenues of $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2023, which increased 4% year over year.

Price Performance

Western Union shares have gained 18.9% in the past six months compared with the 3.2% rise of the industry it belongs to.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Western Unioncurrently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services space are Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) , FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (FCFS - Free Report) and Paysafe Limited (PSFE - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s current-year bottom line suggests 15.3% year-over-year growth. Based in San Francisco, V beat earnings estimates in all the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 5.2%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FirstCash’s current-year earnings indicates a 7.5% year-over-year gain. Fort Worth, TX-based FCFS beat earnings estimates in all the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 7.3%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Paysafe’s current-year bottom line implies a 5.8% year-over-year rise. Headquartered in London, PSFE beat earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters and missed once, with an average surprise of 154%.

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