Wells Fargo to Discount Transfers to Mexico

Wells Fargo & Co. is poised to introduce a discount service for wiring money to Mexico, the latest move in the banking giant’s courtship of the steadily growing Latino population within the United States.

The new service will charge a $10 flat fee for wiring as much as $1,000 to Mexico.

The price undercuts the rates charged by the dominant financial wire services, Western Union Holdings Inc. and MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc., which collect fees ranging from $15 for transfers up to $300 to as much as $50 to send $1,000 to Mexico.

Mexicans living in the U.S. wire an estimated $8 billion annually to friends and relatives back home.

Wells Fargo will launch the new service at one branch in Phoenix and seven branches in Texas under a pilot program that will begin before April.