Western Union Grabs 15% Stake In Saudi Digital Payments Business

The Western Union Company WU has acquired a 15% stake in a Saudi Arabian digital payment business, Reuters reported.

What Happened: The $200 million stake is in a digital payment unit of Saudi Arabia’s STC Group, a telecom.

Why It Matters: Western Union is one of many companies vying for a lead in digital payments outside China, where Ant Financial's Alipay app and Tencent Holding's TCEHY WeChat app are already well-entrenched.

This week, Alphabet Inc GOOG relaunched an expanded version of its Google Pay app in a bid to grab more of the market. Google and Western Union are up against competitors such as PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL, Square Inc SQ and Zelle.

Photo by Usien via Wikimedia.