Western Union Co. has been named one of the few non-bank approved lenders under the U.S. Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program. 

Western Union can accept applications online and provide assistance to eligible Western Union agents and Western Union Business Solutions clients in the U.S., according to a press release.

"Small businesses have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 crisis and we want to do our part to help," Hikmet Ersek, CEO of Western Union, said in the release. "We are grateful to all of our small business partners, merchants and retailers who are an important part of our Western Union Global Network and Payments Client base while playing  a major role sustaining economic activity in the United States, and whose critical role is even more important during these challenging times."

Western Union said it has collaborative relationships with more than 10,000 businesses that offer cross border and cross currency money transfers.