Remittance giant Western Union and Telenor-owned Malaysian wallet company Valyou inked an agreement to increase the mobile payment brand’s international transfer destinations.

The deal will allow Valyou users to remit cash held in mobile wallets to Western Union agents in: Bangladesh; Indonesia; Philippines; India; Vietnam; Cambodia; China; and Nigeria.

Valyou already provides international remittance as one of its core services using a number of providers, but the latest deal sees it increase the number of agents available in major recipient countries. It also increases Western Union’s presence in Malaysia.

Western Union regional director Jeffrey Navarro said the deal would be advantageous for its current customers, while increasing its reach to unbanked and underbanked populations in rural areas of Malaysia.

In the US company’s statement, it credited Valyou with being very popular in these areas with 80 per cent of the inbound transactions going to users in rural areas.