Western Union Expands Footprint in Chile With Khipu Partnership

The Western Union Company WU inked a deal with the Open Finance company, Khipu, enabling customers to transfer money digitally using any bank account in Chile.

The agreement incorporates Khipu's technology into Western Union's mobile app and website. Earlier, customers paying through a bank account had to leave the Western Union app or website and log into their bank's platform to complete the payment. This step is now removed as a result of the latest integration, allowing the entire transaction to be completed within the Western Union platform. The service is now available via the Western Union Chile app and website.

Western Union has also introduced a special promotion offer with a $0 fee for the first remittance made using the "Online Bank Transfer" option, thereby encouraging customers to explore the new service. The collaboration between WU and Khipu makes sure that cross-border payments can be made faster and more seamlessly by Chile's customers.

Benefits of the Recent Move to Western Union

The recent initiative reflects Western Union's sincere efforts to establish a solid footprint across the Chilean remittance market. 

Moves similar to the latest one are indicative of Western Union's efforts to align with its global digital expansion strategy, designed to attract more customers through its diverse service offerings. Speedier money transfers brought about by integrating Khipu's technology into the WU platform are likely to result in the increased usage of its money transfer services. This move is likely to further boost the company's digital money transfer revenues in the days ahead.

Strategic partnerships with financial service providers and significant investments have enabled Western Union to develop a robust digital platform. This platform's strength has made it a preferred partner for efficient global money transfers and advancing digitization in underserved regions.

Western Union's Stock Price Performance

Shares of Western Union have dipped 0.7% year to date against the industry's 8.8% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

WU's Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

WU currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). 

Some other top-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Duolingo, Inc. DUOL, RCM Technologies, Inc. RCMT and AppLovin Corporation APP, each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

The bottom line of Duolingo outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 92.09%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DUOL's 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.87 per share, which indicates a more than five-fold increase from the year-ago figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 38.6% from the year-ago number. The consensus mark for DUOL's 2024 earnings has moved 7.5% north in the past 60 days. 

RCM Technologies' earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and matched the mark once, the average surprise being 17.49%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCMT's 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 10.4% from the year-ago figure. The same for revenues also implies growth of 5.3% from the prior-year reading. The consensus mark for RCMT's 2024 earnings has moved 2.2% north in the past 60 days. 

The bottom line of AppLovin outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 21.06%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APP's 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.46 per share, which indicates a nearly four-fold increase from the year-ago figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 35.2% from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for APP's 2024 earnings has moved 13.1% north in the past 60 days.

Shares of Duolingo and AppLovin have gained 24% and 238.2%, respectively, year to date. However, RCM Technologies stock has lost 31% in the same time frame.

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