Western Union to facilitate government payments in Haiti

Western Union (NYSE: WU) has announced plans to help facilitate government payments supporting social programs across Haiti, the global payment services company said in a press release. Initially, the company will enable parents with school-age children, university students and senior citizens to access government and emergency payments at more than 600 Western Union agent locations across the country. Future plans may include offering a wider array of pay-out options such as bank accounts, mobile phones or prepaid cards, Western Union said. The government of Haiti has developed a wide array of conditional cash transfer programs under the Ede Pep (Help People) umbrella that have successfully addressed the needs of school children, university students, the handicapped and approximately 200,000 women, children and men across Haiti. "The Haitian government seeks relationships with companies such as Western Union to improve the delivery of services to its citizens by accessing state-of-the-art technology. Our linkage with Western Union shows how international businesses can play a key role in Haiti's recovery," the country's Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said. Haiti suffered a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in January 2010.