news First Data in the News Zap That Money Now Future Banker By Michael Sisk In a sign that competition in the person-to-person payment space is heating up, First Data announced the planned rollout of Western Union MoneyZap in July, with the goal of allowing consumers to select how, when and where to send, receive and request payments from other consumers over the Internet and, ultimately, through wireless devices. Matt Golub, svp of the Internet commerce group at First Data, points out that Western Union, owned by First Data since 1995, has been moving money electronically for 125 years: "We view this market in a couple of ways. It's a natural extension of our Western Union franchise. Western Union is a trusted source for person-to-person payments and we found our brand attributes translate very, very well to this market. The brand will help the product and the product will serve to expand the franchise." Using MoneyZap, customers can send money or request money from anyone with an e-mail address. Via encrypted transactions, funds will be verified by Western Union and transferred electronically to the payment vehicle of choice, as dictated by the sender. MoneyZap will rollout components over time. Initially, people will execute payments either using a credit card or a checking account number over the Internet. Quickly thereafter, the company will roll out a stored-value card. "We're working on wireless now. I'm not sure when that capability will go to market, but we're going to work hard on doing something pretty quick," Golub says. He acknowledges that some people may never be comfortable handing over personal account numbers to Western Union, or any institution, to facilitate this kind of payment system. But, eventually, most people will become comfortable with the process. "Our credibility in the marketplace will help overcome those fears." The product will facilitate commerce and drive traffic to partner sites, Golub explains. And extensive consumer marketing initiatives, both on-line and in traditional media, are planned to support the product. These plans dovetail well with First Data's strategy to partner with financial institutions that want to offer a P2P service to customers. "We're very eager to help banks with their strategies in the person-to-person payment space. ...We definitely want to partner with institutions to enable this technology and I think that's a very strong fit," Golub says. And First Data has a realistic outlook on what it will take to make this venture work: revenue. Although there will be a free introductory period, "ultimately, the service will carry a transaction fee somewhere in the range of an ATM fee. It's the kind of service that provides value and deserves a fair price." In a sign that competition in the person-to-person payment space is heating up, First Data announced the planned rollout of Western Union MoneyZap in July, with the goal of allowing consumers to select how, when and where to send, receive and request payments from other consumers over the Internet and, ultimately, through wireless devices. Matt Golub, svp of the Internet commerce group at First Data, points out that Western Union, owned by First Data since 1995, has been moving money electronically for 125 years: "We view this market in a couple of ways. It's a natural extension of our Western Union franchise. Western Union is a trusted source for person-to-person payments and we found our brand attributes translate very, very well to this market. The brand will help the product and the product will serve to expand the franchise." Using MoneyZap, customers can send money or request money from anyone with an e-mail address. Via encrypted transactions, funds will be verified by Western Union and transferred electronically to the payment vehicle of choice, as dictated by the sender. MoneyZap will rollout components over time. Initially, people will execute payments either using a credit card or a checking account number over the Internet. Quickly thereafter, the company will roll out a stored-value card. "We're working on wireless now. I'm not sure when that capability will go to market, but we're going to work hard on doing something pretty quick," Golub says. He acknowledges that some people may never be comfortable handing over personal account numbers to Western Union, or any institution, to facilitate this kind of payment system. But, eventually, most people will become comfortable with the process. "Our credibility in the marketplace will help overcome those fears." The product will facilitate commerce and drive traffic to partner sites, Golub explains. And extensive consumer marketing initiatives, both on-line and in traditional media, are planned to support the product. These plans dovetail well with First Data's strategy to partner with financial institutions that want to offer a P2P service to customers. "We're very eager to help banks with their strategies in the person-to-person payment space. ...We definitely want to partner with institutions to enable this technology and I think that's a very strong fit," Golub says. And First Data has a realistic outlook on what it will take to make this venture work: revenue. Although there will be a free introductory period, "ultimately, the service will carry a transaction fee somewhere in the range of an ATM fee. It's the kind of service that provides value and deserves a fair price." ©2000 First Data Corporation.All Rights Reserved. <http://www.firstdatacorp.com/Shared_DW/6500-DW.jsp>