By Tess Stynes 
 

Western Union Co. (WU) on Wednesday said it will begin international direct-to-bank money transfers to Mexico from the U.S. through Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB's UniTeller network, a moves that aims to expand the money-transfer-services company's range of customers in Mexico.

The service, expected to begin in the current quarter, will allow Western Union's U.S. customers to send money directly into Banorte accounts, and soon to other Mexican banks.

The service potentially could be used to transfer funds to an estimated 60 million individual bank accounts, according to data Western Union cited from the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission.

Odilon Almeida, head of Western Union's Americas and European Union business, said that although "receivers in Mexico continue to have a strong preference for cash and our retail growth has been solid, we believe the direct-to-bank services will bring in new types of consumers who prefer to receive funds in accounts."

Western Union said it offers direct-to-bank services in 50 countries, including seven of the world's top 10 remittance-receiving developing countries.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

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