As a newly-appointed agent of Western Union CTSI Logistics an affiliate of Tan Holdings Corp. is set to open 12 more Guam locations within the year. Menchu Diaz-Atalig marketing manager for CTSI Logistics told the Journal “CTSI has been appointed a Western Union agent for Micronesia. Right now we are the agents for the FSM Chuuk Yap and Palau. We started with our Guam operation being their agent in the early part of January.” She said “Western Union appointed us because of our presence in the various islands in the region.”

Before CTSI became an agent there were only three Western Union agents on Guam at California Mart Copy Express and Expo Travel. All three are still agents. Atalig said “We have three offices that are open for remittances. We will have about 12 new offices by New Year’s Eve including our present offices.” CTSI’s three current Western Union locations are at the Antonio B. Won Pat Guam International Airport Piti and Tamuning.

The appointment of CTSI coincides with the announcement of lowered fees to the Philippines. “The Philippine market is huge on Guam so we just recently announced lowered service fees to the Philippines ” Atalig said. “Customers will be able to receive their remittances within minutes. It’s really fast; there are more than 6 000 locations in the Philippines which is more than the number of gas stations; and customers are able to receive the transfer in U.S. dollars or pesos. Those are our selling points.”

With strong marketing support from the Western Union headquarters in Sydney Australia the goal is to launch more products services and promotions like the ones seen in the U.S. Diaz-Atalig said “We will be attending a summit in Thailand so we will be launching some products and services this year. They want to have a strong presence here on Guam. We will be actively involved in the community and we’ll be partnering with other establishments.”

Western Union is represented in the Northern Mariana Islands by Juan T. Guerrero & Associates as of August 2004. Western Union is the largest international remittance company with a network of about 200 000 outlets in 180 countries. MBJ