Lottomatica, MasterCard and Western Union launch MY WU, a new prepaid card for foreigners

Western Union, leader in global payment services, Lottomatica (brand under which Gtech spa operates in Italy) through its subsidiary CartaLis and MasterCard announce the launch in Italy of the rechargeable prepaid card My WU.

The card is primarily aimed at the over 4 million foreign workers present in Italy, who need easy access to financial services and instruments. In fact, the product combines the typical functions of a prepaid card with those of a "light" current account.

With the My WU prepaid card, you can have your salary credited and receive wire transfers thanks to the IBAN associated with the card, make purchases in all shops and online sites that accept MasterCard cards and withdraw cash from ATMs in Italy. Furthermore, thanks to My WU, it is possible to make money transfers with Western Union through the network of Lottomatica outlets enabled for the service and take advantage of the advantages associated with the loyalty program dedicated to all Western Union customers.

The card is distributed in over 15.000 LIS CARD points of sale throughout Italy and can also be requested online at www.wu.com/it/mywu/prepaid. It can also be easily topped up in more than 22.000 tobacconists and bars and also in the approximately 10.000 ATMs authorized for the service.

“At Western Union, we are committed to creating innovative solutions to make it easier for consumers to send, spend and save money how, where and when they want,” said Fiona Duncan, vice president, EU and CIS prepaid cards, Western Union. “By joining forces with Lottomatica and MasterCard – she added – we are able to offer a new Western Union service to consumers, who do not have a full current account but who need access to basic financial services and to send money home ”. 

"We have created - declared Sergio Signoretti, managing director of CartaLis Imel SpA (Lottomatica's electronic money institution) - a prepaid card intended mainly for foreign workers present in our country by providing a widespread network such as that of our tobacconists and Cafe".

Carlo Enrico, group executive, strategy and development at MasterCard, added “we saw the introduction of this service in Italy as an important step forward in our joint efforts to support financial inclusion around the world.”