Western Union Co is resuming money-transfer services to Afghanistan, a senior executive told Reuters on Thursday, a decision he said was in line with a US push to allow humanitarian activity to continue after the Taliban's takeover.
The world's largest money-transfer firm and MoneyGram International Inc, another global remittance provider, suspended services in Afghanistan two weeks ago after the Islamist militia captured Kabul at lightning speed.
But an easing of security concerns following the completion of the Taliban's conquest of the country opened the way for the reopening this week of banks, which the money-transfer firms rely on to dispense and collect funds.
Jean Claude Farah, Western Union's president in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the reopening of banks, plus a push by the United States to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, had given the American company confidence to resume services on Thursday.
"Much of our business involving Afghanistan is low-value family and support remittances that support basic needs of the people there, so that's the grounding that we have and why we want to reopen our business," Farah told Reuters.
"We've engaged with the US government, which has conveyed that allowing humanitarian activities, including remittances, to continue are consistent with US policy."
The flow of funds from migrant workers overseas is a key lifeline for many Afghans and has helped the economy of one of the world's poorest nations weather years of violence and instability.
The United Nations says about half of the population requires aid amid the second drought in four years.
— Reuters