Western Union 2010 Annual Report Download - page 7

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
The Western Union Company (the “Company,” “Western Union,” “we,” “our” or “us”) is a leader in global
money movement and payment services, providing people and businesses 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
people move and travel around the world, they are able to use the services of a well recognized brand to transfer
funds. Our consumer-to-consumer money transfer service enables people to send money around the world in
minutes. Our services are available through a global network of more than 445,000 agent locations in more than 200
countries and territories, with approximately 85% of those locations outside of the United States. Each location in
our agent network is capable of providing one or more of our services, with the majority offering a Western Union
branded service. As of December 31, 2010, approximately 75% of our locations had experienced money transfer
activity in the prior 12 months.
Our global business payments service provides consumers and businesses with flexible and convenient options
for making one-time or recurring bill payments, including business-to-business cross-border, cross currency
payment transactions. In September 2009, we acquired Canada-based Custom House, Ltd. (“Custom House”), a
provider of international business-to-business cross-border, cross-currency payment services. In the third quarter of
2010, Custom House was rebranded “Western Union»Business Solutions.” Although the majority of the revenue in
our global business payments segment was generated in the United States, international expansion and other key
strategic initiatives have resulted in international revenue continuing to increase in this segment.
We believe that brand strength, size and reach of our global network, and convenience and reliability for our
customers have been important factors relating to the growth of our business. As we continue to meet the needs of
our customers for fast, reliable and convenient money transfer services, we are also working to enhance our services
and provide our consumer and business clients with access to an expanding portfolio of payment and other financial
services.
The majority of our revenue comes from fees that consumers pay when they send money or make payments. In
certain money transfer and payment services transactions involving different send and receive currencies, we
generate revenue based on the difference between the exchange rate set by us to the consumer or business and the
rate at which we or our agents are able to acquire currency.
Our Segments
We manage our business based on the customers we serve and the type of services we offer. Each segment
addresses a different combination of customer needs, distribution networks and services. Our segments are
consumer-to-consumer and global business payments. Our other businesses not included in these segments
primarily consist of Western Union branded money order services available through a network of third-party
agents primarily in the United States and Canada.
The table below presents the components of our consolidated revenue:
2010 2009 2008
Consumer-to-consumer (a)
EMEASA (b) ..................................................................................................... 44% 45% 44%
Americas (c) ...................................................................................................... 31% 32% 34%
APAC (d) ........................................................................................................... 9% 8% 7%
Total consumer-to-consumer.................................................................................. 84% 85% 85%
Global business payments ..................................................................................... 14% 14% 14%
Other ................................................................................................................... 2% 1% 1%
100% 100% 100%
5