ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and BOISE, Idaho — The Western Union Company is strengthening its presence across the U.S., after signing a deal with Albertsons Cos. The agreement will enable consumer access to international and domestic money transfer and money order services, as well as bill payment services at Albertsons Cos. locations—operating under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs.

Consumers will also have the option to start a money transfer transaction on the Western Union mobile app (available on iOS and Android), and then pay in cash at any Albertsons Cos. store to complete it, offering additional speed, convenience, and the ability to track the transaction through the app. Consumers may also opt to have their receivers pick up their money in cash at one of Western Union’s more than 550,000 global retail Agent locations or pay out to bank accounts or mobile wallets, where available.

“At Albertsons Companies, our goal is to exceed our customers’ evolving expectations by seeking better ways to create and deliver unsurpassed service and value. Our agreement with Western Union will help our customers quickly and easily complete multiple errands under one roof,” said Mark Panzer, senior vice president of pharmacy and general manager of HBC at Albertsons Cos.

The agreement with Albertsons Cos. also extends Western Union’s 30-year relationship with Safeway, which merged with Albertsons in 2015.

“At Western Union, we continue to connect the dots across the world as we link reputable US brands, popular with our money transfer customers, to our global Agent network in more than 200 countries and territories. Our brand heritage, advancing technology and compliance capabilities are the pillars of our reputation and enable strong, lasting relationships with our customers and Agents. We welcome Albertsons into our global family of network Agents,” said Hikmet Ersek, president and chief executive officer of Western Union.

“We want to make it convenient for consumers to move money wherever and whenever they need to. Our collaboration with Albertsons supports our network expansion strategy of offering customers convenience to send money and pay bills, as a part of their daily routine,” he said.

Western Union’s retail network across North America has more than 45,000 Agent locations and represents multiple classes of trade, including supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores and banks, among others.