Western Union 2013 Annual Report Download - page 3

DEAR FELLOW
SHAREHOLDERS,
At Western Union, our customers are at the center of
everything we do.
Our customers are people like Aurelia, who works a
demanding job caring for elderly people in Italy so she
can send money to her mother back home in Romania.
They are people like George, who uses wu.com to send
money every payday from the U.S. to multiple family
members in the Philippines. They are people like Gary, a
businessman in California who uses Western Union
Business Solutions to pay invoices in Hungarian forints
and euros.
While these stories are representative of the many
people who use our services—millions of consumer
money transfer senders and more than 100,000 busi-
ness customers in 2013— our definition of a customer
is much broader.
Our customers are travelers who lack options for
accessing their money overseas. They are non-
governmental organizations that have difficulty getting
funds to the people and places that need it most. They
are people who prefer using cash to pay their bills.
Worldwide, many people have unmet financial service
needs. At Western Union, it’s our goal to meet those
needs—through providing new, innovative solutions.
No matter who our customer is, each has a voice. Our
customers are telling us what they want, what they need.
We’re listening, and we’re taking action.
Our vision
Western Union has a strong foundation to deliver cross-
border, cross-currency money transfer services to
customers and businesses around the globe.
We have an extensive network, including more than
500,000 agent locations in more than 200 countries and
territories. We have a strong global brand, tailored solu-
tions for businesses, and compliance and regulatory
capabilities that allow us to operate in a complex
environment.
We have a growing digital business, and believe we are
well-positioned to connect the digital and physical
worlds for our customers.
Our vision is to be a recognized leader in providing
innovative solutions, high service levels, and omni-
channel integration for cross-border, cross-currency
money transfer.
Last year, we continued to invest to improve our busi-
ness for the future.
We focused our strategies on strengthening our con-
sumer money transfer business, increasing customers
and usage in business-to-business, and generating and
deploying strong cash flow for our shareholders.
Strengthening our consumer-to-consumer business
In 2013, our 10,000 employees and the more than 1 mil-
lion front-line associates at our agent locations contin-
ued a relentless pursuit of understanding our customers’
needs, implementing a wide variety of changes in
response.
Beginning in late 2012 and continuing in the first half of
last year, we implemented a series of price reductions in
key corridors to regain momentum with our customers.
These actions delivered the transaction growth we
expected, with significant improvement in the second
half of 2013.
Worldwide, many people have unmet financial service
needs. At Western Union, it’s our goal to meet those
needs—through providing new, innovative solutions.