7-Eleven, Western Union Ink Prepaid Card Deal

DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. and Western Union reached an agreement that lets consumers obtain Western Union MoneyWise general purpose reloadable prepaid cards at the retail giant's locations. The cards will be available at select 7-Eleven stores early next year.

"We are offering this card to our customers because it provides consumers with the convenience of a reloadable prepaid card without many of the fees, such as monthly maintenance, purchase transaction and customer-service fees," said Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, 7-Eleven's senior vice president of merchandising, marketing and logistics. "The Western Union MoneyWise prepaid card incorporates all the benefits of a reloadable prepaid card, including convenience and ease of use, which is what our customers want."

The agreement is part of Western Union's prepaid go-to-market strategy. The Western Union MoneyWise Prepaid Card will be a new service option for consumers who already purchase Western Union money orders at more than 6,000 U.S. 7-Eleven retail locations. The agreement also positions 7-Eleven as the largest retail seller of the Western Union MoneyWise prepaid reloadable card product in the United States, according to a Western Union release.

"The Western Union prepaid card will provide more options and convenience for consumers in managing their everyday finances," said Carter Hunt, Western Union's senior vice president of global key accounts. "Western Union sees its suite of prepaid card services as an opportunity to continue strengthening both its relationship and value proposition with consumers seeking convenient prepaid services, and mass-market retailers preferring to efficiently manage prepaid services at the checkout counter."

This deal follows on the heels of the Dallas-based convenience store chain's pact with NetSpend. That agreement brings the prepaid debit card company's reload network to all of 7-Eleven's c-stores across the United States, as CSNews Online previously reported.