Western Union expands with Hatton National Bank in Sri Lanka

From left: HNB Executive – Exchange House Relationships Nilantha Somasiri, APAC Senior Manager, Digital Vivek Singh, APAC Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Noor Elahi, APAC Director, Digital Nitin Bhandari, HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles, HNB Deputy General Manager, Retail Banking Sanjay Wijemanne, HNB AGM – Deposits and Remittances Kalum Wijesooriya and HNB Senior Manager – Inward Remittances and Exchange House Operations Jayamini Fernando

Western Union, a leader in cross-border and cross-currency money transfer, has expanded its network in Sri Lanka facilitating greater access for international money transfer customers, following an alliance with Hatton National Bank (HNB), Sri Lanka’s premier private-sector commercial bank.

With this collaboration, customers can now receive their Western Union money transfers in minutes from more than 200 countries and territories, across HNB’s island-wide branch network of 251 customer centres. 

Western Union has been providing money transfer services in Sri Lanka since 1995. Customers can receive money at more than 4,600 Agent locations across the country or directly into bank accounts from participating countries.

“As more Sri Lankans seek employment opportunities abroad, we are extremely proud to be able to work together to connect the Sri Lankan diaspora from nearly every country in the world, by enabling money movement to their families and loved ones in Sri Lanka,” said Sohini Rajola, Regional Vice President, South Asia and Indochina, Western Union. 

“We believe that when money moves, good things happen. Western Union is always committed to enabling individuals, families and friends to securely and conveniently send and receive money,” she said.

Sri Lanka was one of the top five remittance receiving countries in South Asia in 2017, according to the Migration and Remittances Brief by World Bank.

“Many Sri Lankans choose to live and work overseas and remit money to support their loved ones back home, contributing significantly to shaping the local and national economy. The reliability and ease of these transactions is what many families across the island rely on, and this is part of the rationale driving the agreement between our two organisations,” said Kalum Wijesooriya, AGM – Deposits and Remittances, HNB. 

“HNB is delighted to be collaborating with Western Union and providing customers with access to the speed, convenience and reliability of Western Union, and their extensive global network spanning over 200 countries and territories and 130 international currencies,” he said.