Western Union 2008 Annual Report Download - page 4

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2
While neither our company nor our customers are immune to the global economic recession, we have
confidence in our strategy and the value proposition we offer the marketplace over the long term.
Our plan is to focus on what we can control and influence. We have a brand that is recognized around
the world. We have a business that generates significant cash flow. We have created a business model
that consistently delivers strong margins. We have built a distribution channel that is second to none
and our global team is focused on a short list of priorities to drive growth.
We provide vital services to consumers in more than 200 countries and territories. Our
services not only make a tremendous difference in the individual lives of our customers, but the
sheer volume of remittances sent through Western Union helps drive many national economies.
pavin g t h e way f o r l ong - te r m g r ow t h
We also have the advantage of a globally recognized brand and unmatched worldwide distribution.
We handle money transfers in more than 15,000 send and receive corridors with no single country
outside the U.S. contributing more than 7% of our revenue. Our systems allow us to monitor these
corridors and remittance flows daily. This management tool provides us the ability to observe
patterns and enables us to identify and address opportunities quickly and responsively. All of which,
we believe, places us in a solid position to manage our business through this turbulent environment.
Our brand is a key differentiator and an area of focus for us and we plan to continue
investing in our brand even in these tough times. Our brand represents speed, trust and reliability
to our consumers worldwide. We have launched a comprehensive new global brand initiative that
embodies an ambitious and forward-looking vision for the company—our recently launched yes!
campaign. yes! is a champion of optimism for our customers, our company, our agents and our
employees and embodies our commitment to help people who are on the move, pursuing their
dreams. At a time when there is so much pessimism in the world, we believe the Western Union
message will serve as a source of positive energy in the marketplace, which should ultimately translate
into mind share and market share for the company.
Also on the brand front, we will continue to invest in our customer loyalty programs.
We have extensive customer relationship programs including our Gold Card program which now
covers 11 million customers, an increase of 16% over 2007. We will increase our technology
spend this year to further develop tools that allow us to perform deeper analytics on our customers.
Our loyalty programs and customer analytics improve retention, increase transaction frequency
and assist in acquiring new customers.
During the year, we continued to expand our global network, which now exceeds 375,000
agent locations. This distribution channel coupled with westernunion.com service provides
consumers with the convenience to move their money quickly, conveniently and reliably. Agent
location expansion is essential to driving revenue growth. In India we have grown the network by
3½ times since 2003 to more than 50,000 agent locations driving revenue growth of more than 6 times.
Our goal is to continue to penetrate the market and attract new consumers.
We celebrated a milestone when we officially re-entered South Africa with our agent ABSA.
South Africa has evolved into an important receive and send market serving as a hub for a larger
Number of Agent
Locations
0302
182,000
151,000
04
219,000
05
270,000
06
300,000
07
335,000
08
375,000
WESTERN UNION
2008 Annual Report