Spin a globe, count to three, and pick a city on the map. Chances are, you’re pointing to a place where Western Union has operations. From its headquarters in Englewood, the 164-year-old company speaks to customers in 75 languages, at more than half a million retail locations, moving more than $82 billion in principal between consumers and more than 29 transactions a second in 120 currencies and 200 countries and territories around the world.
A company this large, that has lasted this long, does so by adapting to market conditions. Western Union, long the leader in bridging gaps in global financial services worldwide, is showing strong signs that it’s ahead of the curve in adapting to a market that’s going online, digital, and mobile at a rapid clip.
“We have a long history of transforming to meet our customers’ needs, and to meet market needs,” said Western Union Chief Information Officer David Thompson. “We’re in one of those transformative states right now, around what services we offer in the marketplace, the partners we work with, and our future in servicing our clients.”
“At the heart of that is being there for our customers,” Thompson said.
A key component of Western Union’s business comes from serving customers who are underserved and unbanked. They may be migrant workers sending money home, they may choose not to participate in the banking system, or they may not have reliable banking services offered in their area.
The company also serves the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises throughout its Western Union Business Solutions division, which helps importers and exporters, for example, manage international business payments.
Western Union’s services are on a trajectory to go mobile and online. The company now has 24 websites worldwide (the newest in Russia), and customers can send money from their smartphones in the U.S. and Australia. They also have 17 partnerships with mobile phone companies in 14 countries as users in the developing world continue to see a rapid increase in use of mobile phones for financial transactions.
“Certainly our efforts continue to be for the underserved and unbanked. We want to be there with our customers as they transition from our retail platform to an online digital platform,” Thompson said. “One of our top agendas is making sure our mobile application is robust and capable for our customers to make international transfers and bill payments.”
That’s why the Western Union app is one of the top-rated financial services applications in the Google Play and iTunes App stores. The company also announced, in January 2015, that it is accepting Apple Pay™ at its flagship locations and at more than 7,600 kiosks at Walgreens and Duane Reade locations nationwide.
“Maybe it’s a customer who is working the night shift and wants to send money back home, but doesn’t want to have to wait for the bank to open. By using our online services, they can do that through us,” Thompson said.
Just as Western Union is committed to offering services that meet the needs of its customers and business clients, the company is equally committed to giving back through its Western Union Foundation.
The Foundation’s efforts seek to make life better for individuals, families and communities around the world.
More than 82 percent of people around the globe recognize the Western Union brand. In the U.S., they are likely to associate the brand with its retail locations in supermarkets and drugstores. As the market changes, however, more people in the U.S. and abroad are recognizing Western Union as a leader in financial services technology, as well as through its seminal work via the Western Union Foundation.
Creating a better world
The Western Union Foundation believes that the ability to realize dreams through economic opportunity is not just a privilege for the few but a right for all. Through its signature program, Education for Better, and with the support of The Western Union Company, its employees, Agents, and business partners, The Western Union Foundation works to realize this vision by supporting education and disaster relief efforts as pathways toward a better future. Since 2001, the Western Union Foundation has:
- Paid more than $101.1 million to 2,739 organizations in more than 135 countries and territories.
- Pledged 3,095 grants and donations to support the full spectrum of large global NGOs to small local nonprofits and charities.
- Partnered with 517 Western Union Agents in charitable programs.
- Supported more than 142 disaster relief operations in 65 countries around the world.
