The line between brick and mortar and digital payments is blurring further.

After PayPal has moved into the physical POS territory, Western Union has now gone the opposite way and moved further into the e-payments space, promising a “lower-price option compared to other e-payment alternatives currently available.”

The money transfer service provider is going to launch a new electronic payment platform called WU Pay in the US.

The platform is based on that by eBillme, which Western Union had acquired in October last year, and is already available “as a payment option through hundreds of online merchant sites,” according to an official statement. Merchants that accept WU Pay include Sears, Kmart, Buy.com, Tiger Direct, Home Depot, Amazon, Dell and American Airlines.

Hikmet Ersek, pesident and CEO of Western Union said that the introduction of WU Pay was “an integral part of the ongoing change” of the company.

 “WU Pay not only propels us further into the digital payments space, it improves our core money movement capabilities by combining the strengths of our brick-and-mortar Agent network and WesternUnion.com with the proven eBillme platform we acquired last year.

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“This is a truly powerful combination of physical and online assets that will make safe and secure e-commerce possible for just about anyone.”

WU Pay will be marketed at consumers who want to pay for online purchases using their bank accounts or in cash at Western Union agencies.

 

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