Western Union 2008 Annual Report Download - page 6

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4
s h a rp e n ed fo c u s
Across the business, we are sharpening our focus and directing investments to meet market share
opportunities. Our ability to gain an estimated 120 basis points of market share in the cross-border
remittance market in 2008(1) was a demonstration of our global team of approximately 5,900 employees
executing on our four key strategies—strategies that will continue to drive our business forward:
° Accelerate profitable growth in the global cash money transfer business
° Expand and globalize the consumer-to-business payments business
° Innovate new products and services for our target customers
° Improve profitability by leveraging scale, reducing costs and effectively using capital
t h e st r o n g g e t s t rong e r
We also see an exciting opportunity emerging for our business with the upcoming implementation
of the Payment Services Directive (PSD) in the European Union in late 2009. This regulatory
change will make it possible for us to operate in 27 countries under a single license and will allow
us to expand money transfer services to other classes of trade in certain countries.
Another meaningful contributor to our future growth is the broader Asia Pacific region,
which encompasses not only China and the Philippines but countries where we have been
expanding our presence, including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia—the world’s
fourth most populous country. The opportunity here is tremendous. Today our Asia Pacific
region makes up only 7% of Western Union revenue, yet according to the World Bank 2008
Migration and Remittances fact book this market currently represents 19% of the world’s cross-
border remittance market.
In The Americas region we are implementing a new “go-to-market” strategy. Specifically,
we have combined our U.S. and Latin American organizations, including the Western Union®
,
VigoSM and Orlandi Valuta® sales forces. We reported progress with our ScotiaBank “account-to-
cash” program in Canada and expect further advances in the banking category during 2009.
Within the C2B segment, Pago Fácil continued to perform well in Argentina with 2008
revenue growth above 30%. However, nearly 90% of our C2B revenue is generated in the U.S.,
and the ongoing impact of the recession on the American consumer, is pressuring the segment.
This makes our focus on international expansion and product diversification, including
acquisitions, all the more important. In an effort to diversify, we have introduced our own bill
payment service in Peru and Panama and are also working on obtaining a license to offer this
service in Brazil.
We also will be evaluating strategic acquisitions complementary to our core business and
are optimistic about the evolving landscape. We believe we can participate in consolidation with
the goal of strengthening money transfer, diversifying further into payments, and adding value
through technology.
2002
27%
46%
20%
5%
2008
1%
2%
44%
34%
14%
7%
Total Western
Union Revenue
EMEASA
AMERICAS
C2B
APAC
Other
WESTERN UNION
2008 Annual Report