LOS ANGELES and BELLEVUE, Wash.- June 9, 2011- Sigue Corporation
("Sigue") and Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), announced today that Sigue's purchase
of Coinstar's money transfer business is completed. With the closing of this transaction,
Sigue is a leading global money transfer company, operating in 136 countries and
in 6 continents.
Guillermo de la Viña, founder and chief executive officer of
Sigue Corporation, stated, "With this acquisition, we will have global reach and
a suite of highly recognized and trusted brands as well as a reputation of providing
excellent and personalized customer service." He continued, "The combined strengths
of these brands will deliver new products and services to a global agent network
of over 75,000 locations, including many company-owned stores and strategically
located regional offices throughout the world."
"We believe that our global money
transfer business should complement Sigue's already extensive network of money
transfer agents in the United States and Latin America," said Paul Davis, chief
executive officer of Coinstar, Inc. "In addition, the sale of the money transfer
business allows Coinstar to continue focusing on our automated retail strategy."
About Sigue Corporation
Headquartered in Sylmar, California, Sigue is a leading global financial services
company providing international electronic money transfer services worldwide.
The company is privately held and operates through a comprehensive network of
agents.
About Coinstar, Inc.
Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) is a leading provider of automated retail solutions
offering convenient services that make life easier for consumers and drive incremental
traffic and revenue for retailers. The company's core automated retail businesses
include the well-known redbox® self-service DVD rental and Coinstar® self-service
coin-counting brands. The company has approximately 31,800 DVD kiosks and 18,800
coin-counting kiosks in supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, financial
institutions, convenience stores, and restaurants. For more information, visit
www.coinstarinc.com .
Media Contacts:
Sigue Corporation
Maria Casillas
maria.casillas@sigue.com
+1 877-744-8394
Coinstar, Inc.
Marci Maule
mmaule@coinstar.com
+1 425-943-8277
Consumer fraud awareness – sending money to someone you do not know.
Have you been asked to send money to someone you do not know? Please be very careful and consider the following before parting with any money:
- If you are selling goods from an online auction site, do not accept payment through a Money Transfer Service provider. If a reference number is quoted to you as confirmation of funds to be sent, please phone the number on this website to verify the details.
Do not use the contact number given on the email.
- Never send money to pay for taxes or fees on overseas lottery winnings.
- If the deal seems to good to be true, then it usually is.
At CMT we like to put our customers first, and using the CMT service is a great way to send money to people you know and trust.
However, we have recently seen an increase in fraudsters, and criminals have tried to use money transfer services as a front for their fraudulent activity. They have done this by gaining the trust and confidence of the consumer in such scenarios as detailed above.
You should therefore be aware of putting yourself at risk of consumer fraud if you agree to send money to someone you do not know.
If in doubt, please contact CMT on 0800 015 6255 (free phone from UK) or +44 207 895 4245 (Overseas).
22nd April 2009 : Coinstar Money Transfer, one of the largest global money transfer companies with a wide network in 150 countries worldwide, announces its agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania (former American Bank of Albania), the second leading banking institution in Albania, which serves over 130.000 customers, through 34 branches, for offering Coinstar money transfer services all over Albania.
“We are very excited to work together with Intesa Sanpaolo Bank. This cooperation will allow us to extend our payout network in Albania and deliver our high quality services to even more people all over the country. We look forward to growing our present position in the Albanian market” said Alfonso Grassopoulos, Regional Director of Coinstar Money Transfer Ltd. “Coinstar Money Transfer aims to be one of the cheapest ways to send money to Albania from Italy, Greece, UK, US and other countries. There are many Albanians that have left their country for a better life and that rely on money transfers to financially support their families and we look forward to deliver them a really competitive product.”
The inbound remittance market in Albania is estimated to be more than $1,5 million.
More than 2,500 branches in 37 provinces in 2009
BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 9, 2009-- Coinstar Money Transfer Ltd. (CMT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), today announced its expansion with China Construction Bank (CCB), a leading commercial bank headquartered in Beijing, China. Coinstar’s money transfer service is now available in approximately 1,500 branches across 24 Chinese provinces, and later this year the service will be available in 13 more provinces with about 1,000 additional CCB branches.
“With Coinstar Money Transfer, China Construction Bank can now provide a quality but affordable remittance service that enables all the travellers, students, workers or even customers without bank accounts to send or receive immediate cash from overseas. The CMT service will be of great help to both Chinese & expatriates here,” said Mr. Wang Yi, Assistant General Manager of China Construction Bank.
CMT offers both a cash pay-out service through CCB branches and a direct bank deposit service to all the banks in China within the CMT system. The cash pay-out service is quick and easy and takes only minutes to complete a remittance transaction.
The Asia Pacific region is one of the fastest growing markets for money transfer in the world. According to World Bank, China is the second largest remittance receiving country with $25.7 billion recorded in 2007.
“China has been a strong ‘receive’ market for a number of years and now with the strength of China’s import and export industry, the demand for sending funds out of the country is growing, thereby creating a good opportunity to expand our business in this region,” said Mohit Davar, CEO of Coinstar Money Transfer. “We’re very happy to be working with CCB as a master agent in China and look forward to an ongoing and productive relationship with them.
About China Construction Bank
China Construction Bank (CCB) is a leading commercial bank in China providing a comprehensive range of commercial banking products and services. CCB’s business consists of three principal business segments: corporate banking, personal banking, and treasury operations. CCB is among the market leaders in China in a number of products and services including infrastructure loans, residential mortgage and bank cards.
Source: Coinstar Money Transfer
Coinstar Money Transfer expands in Poland, one of top five recipient countries in the world
BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec 18, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Coinstar Money Transfer Ltd., a subsidiary of Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), announced an agreement to offer money transfer services in all Pocztowy Bank (Postal Bank) locations. Postal Bank is the largest banking network in Poland, one of the top five recipient countries in the world. With this agreement, Coinstar Money Transfer becomes a key player in the Polish market and a new competitive money transfer service for the Polish Diaspora.
"We are very excited about this cooperation: Poland is among the top five recipient countries in the world and the flow of money to Poland in 2008 reached $11 billion," said Mohit Davar, CEO of Coinstar Money Transfer Ltd. "This cooperation marks a milestone for our business development this year and in particular for Poland. The agreement with Postal Bank to provide their extensive nationwide network of 5,400 locations will enable our customers to receive cash within minutes all over the country and will give Coinstar the opportunity to serve its objective of providing safe and reliable money transfer services to the Polish Diaspora worldwide."
Alfonso Grassopoulos, Regional Director of Coinstar Money Transfer for Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Switzerland and Poland continued, "This agreement gives us the opportunity to work with a large and experienced organization like the Postal Bank, to provide Coinstar Money Transfer services to millions of Polish people living and working in Italy, UK, USA and other countries. There is a significant flow of remittances going to the rural areas of Poland, now finally accessible through this crucial cooperation. Within this unstable financial environment, consumers are even more interested in value for money, reliable and secure services, which Coinstar Money Transfer strategically offers in the most important send markets for Poland and its Diaspora, mainly because of its direct and aggressive distribution model".
"We look forward to adding Coinstar Money Transfer to our money transfer product portfolio and offer more convenience to our current and new customers" said Mr. Tomasz Bogus, President of Bank Pocztowy. "We are pleased to work with Coinstar Money Transfer in the remittance business. Money Transfer is a very important service in Poland for all the families expecting money from abroad and it is our pleasure and responsibility to offer consumers greater choice, convenience and high quality of service. "
About Bank Pocztowy
Established in 1990 in Bydgoszcz. There are two shareholders of the Bank Code: Post of Poland (Polish Post), that owns 75% of shares (minus one share) and PKO Polish Bank SA (25% plus one share). Both of them are institutions enjoying the public trust having the largest distribution network and access to the most modern banking activities. Uniqueness of the offer of the Postal Bank consists largely in the wide access to the services rendered, found in post offices all over the country. Postal Bank offers a wide range of services, such as Savings and Settlement Accounts, payments and cash withdrawals, deposit accounts or bank loans. They have developed various distribution channels which provide our customers with free access to the accrued resources. The network, consisting of nearly 5,400 posts, is the largest in the country. Postal Bank is a modern universal bank offering customer-friendly and lucid financial services, which are available at the post offices and in the network of the Bank's branch offices across Poland. For more information, visit www.pocztowy.pl
SOURCE: Coinstar Money Transfer Ltd.
Rome, 9th March 2010 : Coinstar Money Transfer, one of the largest global money transfer companies with a wide network in 150 countries worldwide, announces its agreement with Chefinanziaria, a company specialized in credit brokerage for both companies and private clients with branches on the entire Italian territory. Thanks to this agreement Coinstar Money Transfer will add to its Italian network (today composed of over 1,100 branches) Chefinanziaria agencies, with the opportunity to double its foot print in Italy.
“This agreement is an important milestone for Coinstar Money Transfer, that will consolidate its presence and strong current growth in one of the largest money transfer markets. This will allow more people to benefit from CMT services and its distinguishing high quality and competitive prices” said Alfonso Grassopoulos, Regional Director of Coinstar Money Transfer Ltd. “Coinstar Money Transfer aims to be one of the cheapest ways to send money to and from Italy: according to the latest official data (2008) the flow of remittances was superior to 6,3 billion euro, with a growth of 5,5% despite the current economic crisis.
ROME - Coinstar Money Transfer, one of the global money transfer companies announced its agreement with state owned bank of Philippines Land Bank to develop remittances business from Italy.
This agreement is another key component of Coinstar Money Transfer aggressive development strategy in Italy to broaden consumer’s options for a fast and reliable money transfer service aiming to the Filipino community, who will finally be able to send money from any Land Bank branch in Italy at competitive fees.
"This is a significant market considering that the Filipino community is the 3rd largest foreign community in Italy, while being of the most dynamic and productive communities in the country. We are looking to expand our Filipino remittance businesses and we appreciate to have Land Bank as a strategic partner in this peculiar market. This strategic agreement paves the way for expanding our cooperation also in the Philippines, where Land Bank is amongst the most respected financial institutions and the strongest player in the rural areas of the country. The agreement signed in Italy is the basis for a wider cooperation also in the Philippines where Land Bank has one of the largest banking network, highly recognized and respected by consumers" commented Mr. Alfonso Grassopoulos, Regional Director of Coinstar Money Transfer for Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Switzerland, Albania and Poland.
Mrs. Elsa Asuncion Lim, Managing Director of LBP Financial Services SpA in Italy added “Through this strategic cooperation Land Bank will offer the Filipino community a new, convenient and affordable way to send money to their families. LBP is continuously expanding its global reach aiming to be aside our people abroad and we always support and promote products and services that are to their benefits."
About Land Bank
The Land Bank of the Philippines is a government financial institution that strikes a balance in fulfilling its social mandate of promoting countryside development while remaining financially viable. Today, LANDBANK is by far the largest formal credit institution in the rural areas and ranks among the top five commercial banks in the country in terms of deposits, assets, loans and capital. From its initial role as the financing arm of the agrarian reform, LANDBANK has evolved into a full-service commercial bank.
To find out more about Land Bank visit: www.landbank.com.