Western Union 2007 Annual Report Download - page 4

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THE WESTERN UNION COMPANY 2007 Annual Report
Number of Agent Locations Number of Agent Locations by Region
Europe, Middle East,
Africa, and South Asia
Asia Pacific Latin America ⁄ Mexico
and Caribbean
U.S. ⁄ C an ad a
02 03 04 05 06 07
151,000
182,000
219,000
270,000
300,000
335,000
2007
183,000
59,000
58,000
35,000
Building relationships for a consumer-
centric business
The push to go global is driven by customer
demand. Ours is a business built on relationships
with customers that we develop by enhancing their
experience with our brand. To that end, we reward
customer loyalty with a Gold Card program that, by
the end of 2007, had 9.5 million active cards in 65
countries, up from over 8 million cards in 2006. The
Gold Card is an important tool which improves cus-
tomer retention and increases transaction frequency.
In the United States, nearly half of all Western Union
branded consumer-to-consumer transactions occur
with a Gold Card. It speeds up the time at the point-
of-sale, and helps us to know our customers better.
We continually strive to bring value to our
customers. We have developed regionally focused
marketing promotions and grassroots events like
Africa Cash and Philippines Home for the Holidays.
We have offered continuity of income insurance as a
retention tool in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Austria.
These initiatives have had the effect of creating one
of the strongest customer/brand relationships in the
industry, as evidenced by the high brand awareness
that we continue to enjoy. In 2007, we were recog-
nized as a top 100 brand in the United States, given
Superbrand status in Nigeria and were singled out
as the Choice Brand of the year in Ukraine through
a nationwide customer survey. Our commitment to
serving our customers better is translating into
steady, sustainable growth for our business.
We take great measures to prevent fraud and
money laundering. In 2007, we spent over
$40 million and currently have approximately 300
employees dedicated to these efforts alone. As a
result we have earned a global reputation for having
comprehensive knowledge of how to comply with
the complicated regulations that govern internation-
al money transfer — a reputation that has earned the
trust not just of customers, but of businesses and
governments as well.
Driving innovation in technology and
service offerings
As time passes, migrant populations and their native
communities will prosper and their fi nancial needs
will evolve. The existing relationship they have with
our brand as a money transfer provider will ensure
that they turn to us for additional services. To
develop these services further we are investing in
innovative technology and establishing strategic
partnerships. The tremendous success of Pago Fácil,
our walk-in bill payment business in Argentina, has
encouraged us to focus in 2008 on expanding
our consumer-to-business segment internationally
through acquisitions and joint ventures.
Another area of focus for 2008 is to drive innova-
tion by developing new services and technologies.
We recently signed an agreement with Yodlee,
a leading provider of online banking and bill
payment solutions to fi nancial institutions. Google is
now using our network to send business-to-business
payments to partners in Malaysia, Romania and
elsewhere, bringing new customers into the Western
Union fold. We are also piloting a business-to-
business payment product with U.S.-based small
businesses. And there is ample opportunity for
more partnerships in the future, because businesses
understand the value of Western Union’s global
distribution network.
New opportunities are emerging for money
transfer providers as wireless technology becomes
readily available throughout the world. We are
excited about having offerings that will address an
adjacent market — those customers with a need to
conduct more frequent, lower principal transactions.
We recently announced an agreement with the
GSM Association, the global trade association whose
members include more than 700 mobile phone
operators. Through this relationship we entered into
agreements with Bharti Airtel, Globe Telecom and
Smart Communications to pilot mobile money trans-
fer in the booming Indian and Philippines markets.