Operations have resumed at four Western Union outlets which were temporarily closed earlier this year.
Noel Greenland, Senior Vice President for Operations and Marketing at GraceKennedy Money Services, told RJR News that the outlets are located primarily in western Jamaica.
He said one of the two outlets in Spanish Town, St. Catherine which were closed in August has also been reopened.
According to Mr. Greenland, the reopening has been accompanied by new security measures which will help to reduce the number of fraudulent transactions.
“We are also comfortable that our legitimate customers are in fact protected as we want them to feel safe and (that) once they transact business with us, they are not in any shape or form in jeapardy in us facilitating them,” he asserted.
Seven Western Union outlets in St. James, Trelawny, Hanover, St. Ann and St. Catherine had been temporarily closed by GraceKennedy Money Services as part of precautionary measures.
The decision followed a number of incidents linked to the lottery scam which uses local remittance services.
Mr. Greenland said Western Union is working to implement anti-fraud measures at the three outlets that remain closed.
“We are doing final background work just to ensure that we have dot(ted) our ‘I’s and crossed the ‘T’s. At the end of the day, we have the obligation to ensure that every customers is protected,” he reiterated.
He said while the entity does its part to make customer transactions secure, the government must also do its best to rid the country of scamming.
No money shortage
In the meantime, Mr. Greenland sought to assure customers that there is no money shortage at its Western Union outlets.
Several customers complained last week after facing difficulty conducting transactions at Western Union due to a shortage of cash.
The affected outlets included those at MegaMart on Waterloo Road, Manor Park and Shortwood Road in St. Andrew.
But Mr. Greenland said the situation has been rectified.
“We do ensure that we have cash available in all of our locations. There are times, dependent on the run of the day, a location may be out, but the network is never out of cash,” he said.
He urged customers to visit another nearby location if they experience difficulties at any particular outlet.
