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Finance News: Western Union a digital front runner in global payments

Recent financial data shows Western Union is leading global payments network serving over 150 million customers in over 200 countries worldwide for the last 170 years.

Author:Stefano Mclaughlin
Reviewer:Luqman Jackson
Jun 09, 2021168.7K Shares2.3M Views
Recent financial data shows Western Union is leading global payments networkserving over 150 million customers in over 200 countries worldwide for the last 170 years. The deal just got better for their consumers as the transaction giant introduced westernunion.com, a digital platform that allows clients to make instant payments and transfers across the globe.

How Western Union Became A Digital Front Runner In Global Payments

During the 2019 Investor Day, the company announced its goal to expand real-time payments into wallets, bank accounts, and cards. They added that they would have reached a milestone of 100 countries by 2020.
The company claims that its central purpose has always been to better the experience of customers using their services and make international transfers less stressful for every individual. This goal led to the birth of westernunion.com, a platform that made their dream of seamless transactions come true and caused a magical growth in their revenues during and after the pandemic.
According to the company’s Vice President and CFO, Raj Agrawal, the remittance market is worth $700 billion. He says that half of this revenue lies under the care of banks since most people use these institutions to transfer funds globally.
It believes that they have enough experience to be a branded partner or white label provider to these banks and offer them a turnkey solution for transferring funds across several countries.
As a result, the company partnered with the fintech Saudi Digital Company (stc pay) since millions of migrants living in Saudi Arabia would love to transfer funds worldwide. Again, this strategy paid off their efforts and significantly contributed to their year-over-year growth.
Fortunately, most global consumers now prefer digital services when transferring funds, leading to a double-digit digital development. The revenues they accrued from digital transfers, including income from their digital partnerships commercial and website, have grown to over $850 million in 2020, up from 2019’s over $600 million.
During the first quarter of 2021 (Q1), the company reported a growth of 45% in their year-over-year revenue, which equals over $240 million. Due to the growing returns, Western Union estimates their digital revenue will hit $1 billion during the year.
Agrawal cites that their commitment to quality digital customer experience and good services has paid off and is part of their development reasons. He reports that digital cross-border transactions contributed to 34% of their transfers and 23% of income for their customer-to-customer segment in Q1. He also added that this service was the primary function for the rise of new consumers and increased profits.
Similarly, the 2021 Q1 marked their fourth quarter in a row, for recording transaction increment of 50% and above, with average monthly active user growth hitting 46%. The Western Union app downloads also beat the top four of their competitors at a wide margin of 78%.
Western Union recorded significant growth in customer-to-customer transactions amid the pandemic, led by increased digital money transactions. C2C transactions rose by 9% during the 2021 Q1, while the revenues (including westernunion.com and digital partnerships) increased to 45%.
The company’s digital services receive massive support in several countries, with the five top players being:
  • United States of America
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • France
  • Germany
Western Union is the digital leader and front-runner in all the top countries and is the preferred partner in four out of the five. By now, the company’s virtual services are available in over 100 countries.
Additionally, it has recorded impressive developments on all its digital products and has become a front-runner in virtual money transfers. They are dedicating the remaining part of 2021 towards boosting their consumers’ digital experience. Western Union digital transactions have significantly grown both in terms of revenue and reach. It’s only evident that the future is brighter for the company and its lucrative products.
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Stefano Mclaughlin

Stefano Mclaughlin

Author
Luqman Jackson

Luqman Jackson

Reviewer
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