Mexico City - The Western Union Company, a leader in global payments, has grown its reach in Mexico with the ability to send money from the United States directly into nearly all bank accounts in Mexico, amplifying funds-out options in the fourth largest remittance market in the world.

Customers in the U.S. can now send money via the Western Union mobile app, westernunion.com and retail Agent location channels, directly into millions of bank accounts in Mexico.

The company has also significantly increased the amount of Western Union Agent locations in Mexico to nearly 13,600 - adding 3,200 locations in 2015, across the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta brands - giving customers more options for cash pick-up across urban, rural and remote Mexico.

Based on Banco de Mexico data, Western Union's US-to-Mexico transaction and principal growth has outpaced the market. The amount of money customers send through all three brands has been growing ahead of the market for twelve consecutive quarters, while transactions have grown for more than eleven consecutive quarters. During the same periods, the Mexico market grew on average five percent in principal and seven percent in transactions.

"Our market familiarity, multi-channel and multi-brand advantages centered on meeting customer needs are driving the company's performance in Western Union's largest international corridor and one of the oldest remittance markets in the world," said Odilon Almeida, President of the Americas and European Union.

"With activation of account payouts in the US-to-Mexico corridor, our customers have the choice of using retail Agent locations in the first or last mile, or using digital channels, wherever they are, 24/7," Almeida said.

"Our advancing cross-border FinTech capability is appealing to both existing and new bank-centric and tech-savvy customers and it is helping us to realize our vision. We are connecting more people, across more channels, with speed and ease," he added.

In the US, Western Union is attracting a new category of digital savvy customers who are increasingly using the Western Union mobile app and westernunion.com to send money to Mexico. This is in addition to existing customers using the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta retail Agent network.

Western Union has grown together with Mexico for more than two decades. The company's expanding retail presence in Mexico emphasizes convenience, and now account payout is appealing to a banked population, which has grown to 40 percent from 27 percent three years ago.

Mexico has a long tradition of international migration, with more than 13.2 million or 9.4 percent of its native population living overseas. According to the World Bank, Mexico–United States is the largest migration corridor in the world.

In 2015, remittances to Mexico totaled USD$24.8 billion, according to Banco de Mexico, growing 4.75 percent over 2014. While US senders account for more than 90 percent of the money moved into Mexico, Western Union transferred money to Mexico from more than 180 countries last year. Funds are primarily used for food, housing and education.

There are more than 80 million bank accounts in Mexico, according to the National Banking and Stock Commission.

Western Union offers account payout to major remittance receiving countries around the world, including India, China, Philippines, Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam. This capability gives cash, bank and tech-centric customers the choice to send money directly into accounts in more than 50 countries.