The Western Union Company (Western Union) is a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, payments, and digital financial services, empowering consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments with fast, reliable, and convenient ways to send money and make payments around the world.
The Western Union brand is globally recognized and represents speed, reliability, trust, and convenience. As the company continues to seek to meet the needs of its customers for fast, reliab...
The Western Union Company (Western Union) is a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, payments, and digital financial services, empowering consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments with fast, reliable, and convenient ways to send money and make payments around the world.
The Western Union brand is globally recognized and represents speed, reliability, trust, and convenience. As the company continues to seek to meet the needs of its customers for fast, reliable, and convenient global money movement and payment services while focusing on regulatory compliance, it is also working to provide consumers and its business clients with access to an expanding portfolio of financial services and to increase the ways its services can be accessed, including through the launch of the company’s digital wallet in certain countries.
Segments
The company manages its business around the consumers and businesses it serves and the types of services it offers. The company operates through two segments: Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services.
The company’s Consumer Money Transfer service enables people to use the company’s well-recognized brands to send money around the world, usually within minutes. As of December 31, 2024, the company’s global network included agent locations in more than 200 countries and territories and many Western Union branded websites. Each location in its agent network is capable of facilitating a consumer’s use of one or more of its services, with the significant majority offering a Western Union branded service. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 380,000 of the company’s agent locations had conducted money transfer activity in the previous 12 months.
The company’s Consumer Services segment includes its bill payment services, money order services, retail foreign exchange services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, digital wallets, and media network.
Consumer Money Transfer
Money transfers from one consumer to another are the core of the company’s business, representing 90% of its total consolidated revenues for 2024. A substantial majority of these transfers were cross-border transactions. The company’s money transfer service is mainly conducted through its retail agent locations but also includes the company’s websites and mobile applications marketed under the company’s brands (Branded Digital). This segment includes five geographic regions whose functions are primarily related to generating, managing, and maintaining agent relationships and localized marketing activities. The company includes Branded Digital transactions in its regions. By means of common processes and systems, these regions, including Branded Digital, create one interconnected global network for consumer transactions, thereby constituting one Consumer Money Transfer business and one operating segment.
Operations
The company’s revenues are primarily derived from consideration paid by customers to transfer money. These revenues vary by transaction based upon factors such as channel, send and receive locations, send and receive funding method, the principal amount sent, and, when the money transfer involves different send and receive currencies, the difference between the exchange rate it set to the customer and a rate available in the wholesale foreign exchange market.
In a typical money transfer transaction, a consumer provides information, either at one of the company’s agent or subagent locations or online, specifying, among other things, the name and other identifying information regarding the recipient and the principal amount of the transfer. The consumer also provides funds for the transaction, including fees. Certain of these processes are streamlined for consumers who participate in its loyalty programs or are registered Branded Digital customers. This information is entered into the company’s money transfer system, and the funds are made available for pick-up by the recipient within its system, usually within minutes, in the country or territory specified by the consumer, or paid into the designated account of the recipient. Consumers then receive a unique identifying number assigned by the company’s system, which the consumer must communicate to the recipient to obtain a payout in cash. In this situation, the recipient generally enters an agent location in the designated receiving country or territory, presents the unique identifying number and identification, where applicable, and is paid the transferred amount by the company agent based on the information in its system. Recipients generally do not pay a fee. However, in limited circumstances, a tax may be imposed by the local government on the receipt of the money transfer, or a fee may be charged by the recipient’s institution related to the use of an account. The company determine the fee paid by the sender, which generally is based on the principal amount of the transaction, the send and receive country or territory, the send and receive funding method, and channel.
In a retail transaction, the company generally pays its agents a commission based on a percentage of revenue. A commission is usually paid to both the agent that initiated the transaction, the send agent, and the agent that paid the transaction, the receive agent. For most agents, the costs of providing the physical infrastructure and staff are typically already covered by the agent’s primary business (e.g., postal services, banking, check cashing, travel, and retail businesses). Western Union’s global reach and large consumer base allow the company to attract agents to deliver its services. In a Branded Digital transaction, the company typically pays a with credit card processor or bank a fee for collecting the principal, and it is also responsible for losses from chargebacks and fraud, in addition to commissions owed to the receive agent in the event of cash payout.
Services
The company offers money transfer services in more than 200 countries and territories, with several options for sending funds that provide consumers convenience and choice, through both its retail and digital money transfer channels.
Retail - The majority of the company’s remittances constitute retail transactions in which payment is collected at an agent or owned location and is available for pick-up at another location, usually within minutes. The company offers a variety of methods for consumers to initiate transactions. In select markets, consumers may stage a transaction either online or using a mobile device and subsequently pay for the transaction at one of the company’s agent or owned locations. Additionally, in certain agent locations, consumers can enter a transaction at a self-service kiosk and subsequently pay for the transaction at the counter of the location.
Digital - In many countries and territories, consumers can initiate a money transfer from a Western Union branded website or mobile application or from sites and applications hosted by the company’s third-party digital partners.
Consumers can fund a transaction in a variety of ways, in addition to cash. For example, at certain of the company’s agent locations, consumers can fund a transaction using a debit card, and, where available, consumers can fund a money transfer from an account and through an account using an automated teller machine (ATM). In digital channels, consumers can generally fund transactions using a credit card, debit card, electronic funds transfer processed through the automated clearing house (ACH) payment system or similar system outside the United States, online banking direct payment methods, other bank account-based payment.
The company also provides several options for the receipt of funds. At the company’s retail agent locations, consumers generally receive payments in cash. However, in certain countries, the company’s retail agents may also issue a money order or check or provide payout through an ATM. Funds can also be directed to a bank account in many countries, by either the sender or receiver, and in more limited circumstances, can be paid into or directed to a mobile wallet, a stored-value card, or debit card.
Distribution and Marketing Channels
The company offers its Consumer Money Transfer services around the world primarily through the company’s global network of agents and subagents in most countries and territories, with approximately 90% of the company’s agent locations being located outside the United States. The company’s agents facilitate the global distribution and convenience associated with its brands, which in turn helps create demand for the company’s services and helps to recruit and retain agents. Western Union agents include large networks, such as post offices, banks, and retailers, and other established organizations as well as smaller independent retail locations, which typically provide other consumer products and services. Many of the company’s agents have multiple locations. The company’s agents know the markets they serve and leverage this local knowledge to develop business plans for their markets. In some regions, the company’s agents contribute financial resources to, or otherwise support, its efforts to market the company’s services. Many agents operate in locations that are open outside of traditional banking hours, for example, on nights and weekends. The company’s top 40 agents and partners globally have been with the company for more than 20 years, on average, and in 2024, these long-standing relationships accounted for transactions that generated nearly 60% of the company Consumer Money Transfer revenue.
The company provides its agents with access to its multi-currency, real-time money transfer processing systems, which are used to originate and pay money transfers. The company’s systems and processes enable its agents to pay money transfers in over 130 currencies worldwide. Certain of the company’s agents can pay in multiple currencies at a single location. The company’s agents provide the point-of-sale presence and facilitate the interface with Western Union required to complete the transfers. Western Union provides central operating functions such as transaction processing, settlement, marketing support, and consumer relationship management to the company’s agents, as well as compliance training and related support. Some of the company’s agents outside the United States, whom it refers to as master agents, manage subagents. Although the subagents are under contract with these master agents (and not with Western Union directly), the subagent locations typically have access to similar technology and services as its other agent locations. The company’s international agents often customize services as appropriate for their geographic markets. In some markets, individual agents independently offer specific services, such as stored-value card or account payout options.
The company has expanded the number of its owned and operated locations and the company’s agent concept stores, in which the company partners with agents who have demonstrated high-quality customer service and expertise in serving geographies or corridors. The company’s owned locations and concept stores allow the company to better control the customer experience, test new products and services, and acquire customers for the company’s digital services at a lower cost.
The company typically performs services under the Western Union brand, in certain geographic regions, it operates under other brands targeted to the local market, such as Vigo and Orlandi Valuta. The company markets its services to consumers in several ways, directly and indirectly through its agents and their subagents, leveraging promotional activities, grassroots, direct-to-consumer communications, digital advertising, and other incentives. The company cooperates with various partners around the world to offer a variety of branded, co-branded, and non-Western Union branded money transfer services, including services offered exclusively under the partners’ brands. While the terms of these arrangements vary, these services are often marketed by the third-party partner and offered under the partner’s license to provide money transfer services. As a result, the regulatory requirements applicable to the company under these arrangements may also vary.
Consumer Services
Consumer Services primarily consists of the company’s bill payment services in Argentina and the United States and its money order services. Also included are the company’s retail foreign exchange services, media network, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and the non-money transfer aspects of the company’s consumer ecosystem, such as its digital wallet, which allows consumers in certain countries to load and spend funds. Consumer Services revenue represented 10% of the company’s total consolidated revenues for 2024.
The company’s bill payment services provide fast and convenient options for consumers, businesses, and other organizations to make payments, including to utilities, auto finance companies, mortgage servicers, financial service providers, and government agencies. Generally, these bill payment services are initiated by consumers making a cash payment at an agent or an owned location or making a payment through westernunion.com. The company’s business partners, who receive payments through the company’s services, benefit from their relationship with Western Union, as it provides them with real-time or near real-time posting of their customers’ payments. In many circumstances, its relationships with business partners also provide them with an additional source of income and reduce their expenses for handling of payments. Revenue from the company’s bill payment services is derived primarily from transaction fees paid by customers and billers.
Consumers use the company’s money orders for making purchases, paying bills, and as an alternative to checks. The company derives investment income from interest generated on its money order settlement assets, which are primarily held in United States tax-exempt state and municipal debt securities.
In the company’s retail foreign exchange services, it provides consumers with access to exchange currencies at its retail locations, earning revenues for the difference between the exchange rate the company set to the consumer and the rate at which it acquired the currency. In the company’s media network, it earns revenues by reaching consumers with relevant offers and brand messages, in retail locations, on the company’s websites and mobile applications, or on third-party sites. For non-money transfer aspects of its consumer ecosystem, it derives income primarily from transaction fees and contractual relationships with partners, such as the issuing bank for Western Union-branded prepaid cards.
Intellectual Property
The Western Union trademarks and service marks and the company’s Black & Yellow trade dress are used and/or registered worldwide and are material to the company. The company offers money transfer services under the Western Union, Vigo, and Orlandi Valuta brands. The company also provides various payment and other services under many brands and product names, including Pago Fácil, Quick Collect, Quick Pay, and Quick Cash.
Regulation
Most of the company’s services are subject to anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act in the United States, as amended (collectively, the BSA), and similar laws and regulations in the United States and abroad.
The majority of the company’s EU business is managed through its Irish payment institution subsidiary, Western Union Payment Services Ireland Limited, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Second EU Payment Services Directive EU 2015/2366 (‘PSD2’).
The company’s European Union digital money transfer business is managed through its Austrian banking subsidiary, which is regulated by the Austrian Financial Market Authority under the Austrian Banking Act. Its digital money transfer business is subject to payment services regulated under PSD2 and local implementing legislation. Following the United Kingdom's (U.K.) departure from the EU (‘Brexit’), the company also has a payment institution to conduct money remittance in the U.K., which is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) and offers retail money transfer services via U.K. agents and the company’s U.K. Branded Digital services. In addition, the company have a subsidiary that operates under a banking license in Brazil.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the ‘Dodd-Frank Act’) created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (‘CFPB’), which implements, examines compliance with, and enforces federal consumer protection laws governing financial products and services, including money transfer services. The CFPB has created additional regulatory obligations for the company and has the authority to further define participants in markets for consumer financial products and services and examine and supervise the company and the company’s larger competitors, including for matters related to unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices (‘UDAAP’), the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (‘EFTA’) and Regulation E. The CFPB’s regulations implementing the remittance provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act have affected the company’s business in a variety of areas.
In the United States, federal data privacy laws such as the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and various state laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (‘CCPA’), the Colorado Privacy Act (‘CPA’), and other data privacy and breach laws, apply to a broad range of financial institutions including money transfer providers like Western Union and to companies that provide services to or on behalf of those institutions. The number of comprehensive state privacy laws continues to grow, creating additional risks and complexity due to variations in each state’s law. The United States Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’), which has jurisdiction over companies such as Western Union, has brought numerous enforcement actions, resulting in multi-year settlements and significant fines against companies whose privacy or data security practices allegedly violated the law.
History
The Western Union Company was founded in 1851. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 2006.
