Western Union money transfer in Bermuda has been out of service for two weeks due to system upgrades that are poised to provide faster transactions.

Alvin Wilson, owner/vice president of Bermuda Financial Network, which provides Western Union services to the island, is confident that the upgrades will provide a more efficient service than before.

“When we first started working on Western Union we decided to take the Western Union system and we built on it a database that allowed us to do transactions in two minutes or less, instead of ten to 15 minutes for transactions,” he said.

“Western Union has recently switched its platform to one which was incomputable with our database.”

The Bermuda Financial Network had to look at revamping and getting a system which runs on different softwares and computers as well. The company decided to change the computers for Western Union islandwide.

“We brought the new software and tested the different communication modules which has to be extremely secure because your moving money and handling peoples personal information,” said Mr Wilson.

Bermuda Financial Network has started training staff on the new software and is hoping everything will soon be perfectly in place.

Mr Wilson said: “At one time we were the fastest growing Western Union in the western hemisphere, doing faster transactions per minute than anyone else.”

He said the new software and system changes will be beneficial in the long run.

“This new system is going to be offering something that people have been looking for and that is fairly popular in other parts of the world and that is direct to bank payment system.

“If individuals want to send money to another person who may not have a Western Union near them, they can send it directly to their bank account and within ten minutes the receiver can start spending the funds.”

Mr Wilson talked about the possibility of introducing mobile wallets, which is a phone app allowing individuals to go shopping and simply use their phone to pay for items. It will also track money being spent and the balance remaining.

With all the new projects in store, Mr Wilson knew there would be a need for equipment and system upgrades eventually.

“We thought the best time to do the system upgrade was now because it is after the busy summer period and before school starts when some parents send funds to their children studying abroad.”

He also mentioned that another Western Union location in Bermuda will soon open.

Mr Wilson apologised to customers of Western Union for any inconvenience that has been caused by the disruption to the service.

He said: “We apologise on behalf of Western Union and will have snacks and water when the system is up and running.”

Western union has branches in the Town of St George, Hamilton and Somerset. It expects to have its systems updated by September 8.