DUBAI, UAE, August 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Family and friends are gifted mostly during Eid; closely followed by charity
with cash the preferred method of gifting

As Eid celebrations dawn and Ramadan draws to a close the world over, the majority of Muslims living and working overseas wish for peace and happiness, followed by health and family belonging,  over desire for wealth and success, the second phase of a newly released Western Union-sponsored study has found.

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Specifically, nearly half of Muslims living and working overseas said that they valued peace and happiness (48%), followed by health (17%), family belonging (14%) and wealth and success (9%).

Arab Muslims living across the globe (27%) and Muslims living in the Middle East (24%) have a stronger desire for peace relative to Muslims living in Asia, Europe and US. (Muslims 16%), which is attributable to a long-standing heightened sense of security precipitated by recent uprisings.

The Western Union study, "Traditions of Eid by global citizens of Muslim faith -2", was conducted in July by The Nielsen Company and covered Muslims of 11 nationalities living in 12 countries in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, the United States and Western Europe.

In the tradition of giving back to family and friends - a key motivator for many global citizens seeking opportunities to work and live -  Global citizens of Muslim faith gift their loved ones mostly (three out four or 78%) during Eid, but are just as generous in donating towards charities, mosque or the needy (two out of three or 61%).

In giving or gifting back, cash is the most preferred (89%) delivered through money transfer companies (66%); followed by clothes (41%), physical gifts (30%) and provisions (23%).

"A vast majority of our consumers are global citizens who travel across borders to shape a better world of tomorrow for their families and themselves. We move their money from one end of the earth to the other for a host of reasons from regular expenses to religious festivals such as Eid with convenience, reliability and speed," said Jean Claude Farah, Senior Vice President, Middle East and Africa, Western Union.

"Our experience tells us that the economic opportunity and empowerment realized for families and loved ones through creating a better tomorrow is priceless wealth that engenders all of the values aspired for by Global citizens of Muslim faith this Eid, " he said.

Global highlights of the survey

WISHING:

• Global Muslims who have resided for a shorter period of time (five years or less) in their host countries tend to place more importance on wealth and success, than those who have stayed overseas for an extended period.

SHARING AND GIVING:

• Cash is the popular way of gifting with money transfer companies preferred (66%); followed by requests for others to carry it to the recipient, while travelling back home (36%) or sending through Bank and wires (35%).
• Global Muslims living in Europe and the US donate more towards charities, mosque or the needy (EU 75%; US 64%) over people they know during Eid (EU 64%; US 64%). This may be attributed to their longer established tenure in these countries. Conversely, in Asia they are more likely to give back to family (67%).
• Global Muslims, who are more inclined to be generous because they are away from home (77%), give more towards charity.

EXCHANGING WISHES:

• The majority of family (95%) reciprocating their wishes to their loved one's working or living abroad opted for the human touch of phoning despite the myriad of emerging technologies accessible via the internet or smart phone.  SMS (60%) is the second most favoured channel.

The findings of the study were based on a survey of close to 550 Muslims emigrants originally from the Middle Eastern and North African countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia and the South Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

They resided in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East; Malaysia and Singapore in Asia; the United Kingdom, Germany and France in Europe; and the United States.

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About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of June 30, 2012, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of approximately 510,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2011, The Western Union Company completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $81 billion of principal between consumers, and 425 million business payments. For more information, visit http://www.westernunion.com.

SOURCE Western Union