Western Union 2014 Annual Report Download - page 4

Acceleratin
g
G
rowth in Business
S
olutions
In 2014
,
our Business
S
olutions division continued to increase
our inte
g
rated
p
roduct o
ff
erin
g
s. In addition, the number o
f
b
us
i
nesses us
i
n
g
our on
li
ne a
ppli
cat
i
ons to mana
g
e
i
nvo
i
ces
cont
i
nue
d
to
i
ncrease, w
hi
c
h
we
b
e
li
eve w
ill
a
id
l
o
y
a
l
t
y
an
d
r
ete
n
tio
n
o
v
e
r
ti
m
e
.
W
e a
l
so saw stron
g
g
rowt
h
i
n
FX
mana
g
ement
p
ro
d
ucts an
d
stron
g
o
p
tions
g
rowth in Euro
p
e.
I
n addition, our education
serv
i
ce, w
hi
c
h
a
ll
ows stu
d
ents an
d
t
h
e
i
r
p
arents to
p
a
y
tu
i
t
i
on
i
n
a variet
y
o
f
currencies to s o me o
f
the world’s leadin
g
universities,
saw
d
ou
bl
e-
digi
t
g
rowt
h.
Th
e
b
us
i
ness ex
p
er
i
ence
d
g
oo
d
i
m
p
rovement
i
n t
h
e secon
d
hal
f
o
f
2014 a
f
ter bein
g
ne
g
ativel
y
im
p
acted in the middle o
f
the
y
ear b
y
a lack o
f
f
orei
g
n-exchan
g
e volatilit
y
, contributin
g
to a 3 percent revenue increase in the segment
f
or 2014
.
Business
S
olutions offers cross-border
p
a
y
ments in more
than 30 countries, and re
p
resented 7
p
ercent o
f
our overall
revenue
i
n 2014
.
“We also returned $753 million to
shareholders through share repurchases
and dividends in 2014.”
G
eneratin
g
S
tron
g
C
ash Flow For
S
hareholders
O
ne of the thin
g
s we’re most
p
roud of is our abilit
y
to co
n
-
sistentl
y
g
enerate stron
g
cash flow. In the face of continuin
g
i
nvestment
i
n com
pli
ance an
d
ot
h
er strate
gi
c
i
nvestments,
the com
p
an
y
g
enerated more than $1 billion of cash flow from
o
p
erat
i
n
g
act
i
v
i
t
i
es
.
We also returned
$
753 million to shareholders throu
g
h share
re
p
urc
h
ases an
d
di
v
id
en
d
s
i
n 2014
.
A
C
ommitment to
G
ivin
g
Bac
k
W
estern
U
n
i
on
i
s a
p
ur
p
ose-
d
r
i
ven com
p
an
y
.
Th
rou
gh
our
S
ocial Ventures work
,
we seek to drive both business and
social value b
y
levera
g
in
g
all of our assets, includin
g:
•
Products such as N
GO
G
lobalPa
y
, which hel
p
s N
GO
s quickl
y
deliver
f
unds to the
p
eo
p
le and
p
laces that need them
most—o
f
ten
f
ollowin
g
a natural disaster
;
•
O
p
erations that
p
rotect and em
p
ower consumers
;
•
Cause-marketin
g
efforts such as our “Education for Better”
program, w
hi
c
h
h
as
h
e
l
pe
d
us connect w
i
t
h
our customers
i
n new wa
y
s; an
d
•
Philanthro
py
and volunteerism via the e
ff
orts o
f
the Western
U
n
i
on
F
oun
d
at
i
on
.
S
ince its ince
p
tion, The Western Union Foundation has
g
iven
more than
$
100 million to 2,739 non
g
overnmental or
g
anizations
i
n more t
h
an 135 countr
i
es an
d
terr
i
tor
i
es.
This “Education for Better” commitment re
p
resents more than
250
g
rants in
p
artnershi
p
with The Western Union Com
p
an
y
,
em
pl
o
y
ees,
W
estern
U
n
i
on
Ag
ents, ot
h
er
b
us
i
ness
p
artners
and consumers—bene
fi
tin
g
students, teachers and schools
i
n 53 countr
i
es v
i
a more t
h
an 160 or
g
an
i
zat
i
ons
.
An E
y
e on the Horizo
n
Thirt
y
times a second,
p
eo
p
le come to Western Union with
a need—to hel
p
a relative, to fund an education, to increase
inventor
y
, to
p
a
y
a bill.
Western Union connects all of them with o
pp
ortunities and
access few other com
p
anies can match.
Our transformational strate
gy
and
p
lans for innovation—
p
ut
in
p
lace a few
y
ears a
g
o—are deliverin
g
g
ood results, and
we are
p
leased with the business
p
erformance we delivered
in 2
0
14.
But we haven’t reached our destination
y
et. We must sta
y
the
course and continue to transform our a
pp
roach to our
p
roces
s
-
es, technolo
gy
and workforce. Now is the time to execute
.
Our business has
g
reat
p
otential, and we have man
y
stren
g
ths
to build u
p
on: a mone
y
transfer “en
g
ine” that connects
the di
g
ital and
p
h
y
sical worlds. An extensive network with
hundreds of thousands of “touch
p
oints” at retail, ATMs and
kiosks. Com
p
liance and re
g
ulator
y
ca
p
abilities that allow us
to operate in a complex, multi-
j
urisdictional environment.
We believe in the
p
ower of Western Union. We believe in
our future. And, most im
p
ortantl
y
, we believe the best is
y
et
to
co
m
e.
HIKMET ER
S
E
K
President
,
Chief Executive Officer and Directo
r
A
p
ril 1, 201
5