Bestway has launched a new money transfer product which is intended to drive footfall for retailers in high density ethnic areas.

Omni from United Bank Limited will offer the UK’s Asian community reliable payment transfers to Pakistan and Bangladesh, where the money can be accessed through 1,200 UBL branches.

Launched in April 2010, Omni has evolved to become the largest branchless banking network in Pakistan with over 12,000 agents processing hundreds of thousands of transactions daily.

Bestway’s chief executive Zameer Choudrey said: “Bestway’s philosophy is Building Business for the Independents and as the wholesale partner to many retail businesses, we are committed to developing new ideas which will help these retailers build their business.

“Furthermore, in challenging trading times, we need to help retailers seek out new opportunities to diversify their business; money transfer is a fantastic way to bring new customers into store and achieve incremental sales.”

Mansoor Khan, chief executive officer of United Bank UK added: “The Pakistani community send over US$2bn each year to Pakistan alone in money transfer. As the preferred bank of UK Pakistanis, UBL has taken the leadership in money transfer and is the only bank to offer such a service in the UK.”

UBL branches in the UK are located in Birmingham, Bradford, Glasgow, Ilford, London and Manchester.