Western Union International Banks CEO Peter Bucher firmly believes you can drive successful, innovative business while creating a better world for the community you live in. Manufacturing, Information Services Western Union (WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Seven months after Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group announced they were purchasing Western . Having found great success with its Marketing Cloud, Singh outlines his longer-term vision to connect a number of Western Unions central products. For example, in 2016 Western Union integrated money transfer options with messanging apps WeChat and Viber, allowing users to send small amounts of money through the apps. We recently delivered a similar requirement to a higher standard using one OutSystems developer in just 15 days. Western Union digital integrates UAE Pass - Gulf Business As mobile payments and blockchain tech challenge the status quo of cross-border money transfers, Western Union must digitally transform itself at the right pace or risk going the way of the telegraph. Analytics, API Economy & COVID-19 has brought countless challenges, but its also caused us to focus all of our efforts around customers and reground ourselves in our mission. Africa's largest payment gateway, MFS Africa, has partnered with Western Union to enable individuals and businesses across the continent to receive money from over 200 countries and territories. Patrick Gauthier, CEO of Convera, formerly known as Western Union Business Solutions. Huawei believes digital talent is a key driver in achieving digital transformation, solid economic growth, and better quality of life. Digital transformation in the EU. The Western Union Way of digital transformation. Western Union Software Purchases and Digital Transformation Initiatives IT and engineering under one leader drives an exceptional customer Hearing from customers helped us focus our messaging on two key ideas: digital convenience and staying safe through contactless funds transfer. Digital Transformation. The way we approached it was to use the central WU Way team for capability building. Complete your profile for personalized recommendations, Managing Director, U.S. Financial Services at Google. Singh also sees huge potential in the use of blockchain for specific use cases within financial services and payments, for example, helping with the Know Your Customer (KYC) process that is important to stopping money laundering and fraud and eliminating many of the checks that currently hold up cross-border payments. Western Union's digital transformation sprints to mobile Its time to align your banks digital transformation strategy with the entire customer lifecycle by providing a personalized omnichannel experience. The network upgrade will pave the way for Econet to deliver 5G connectivity in more . Africa, South Thats changing. Finance. As an iconic brand for over 150 years, Western Union is constantly striving to innovate for their customers. The executive team has done a great job of making it really clear across the company that this is something thats expected of you. Updated on. Western Union powers your pursuit. The development speedand deployment easeprovided by OutSystems accelerates change and feedback cycles, which paves the way for continuous innovation. Reflecting on the transformation to-date, Singh is clear that it hasnt come without its challenges. The term is widely used in public-sector organizations to refer to modest initiatives such as putting services online or legacy modernization. Today, WU.com is available in 40 countries, with mobile apps in 18 of them. In order to fund the investments, we decided that it was really important to do a transformation exercise, look for ways to gain efficiencies and effectiveness across our processes and procedures, and then use those efficiencies to fund the growth investments. 2023Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Rapid growth in technology was making it easy for international money transfers to take place online, Fellahi recalls. Western Union Announces Agreement to Sell Western Union Business I also agree with you that the competitive advantage of Western Union is a broad network of retail footprint across the world. New-found agility delivers growth and improved Customer Experience for partners and customers. W ith the outbreak of a crippling global pandemic and a pronounced global economic slowdown, the last few years have been rather tumultuous for the world. A hugely significant piece of the transformation has come from rethinking how Western Union communicates with its vast customer base. Accelerating Digital Transformation in Western and Central Africa My mission is to empower people to become economically self-reliant. How Western Union Became a Global Digital Front-Runner for Cross-Border Payments Money By Jay Jaffin, Head of Global Digital, Western Union May 24, 2021. These initiatives will likely change Western Unions operating model, therefore they must be fully supported by CEO Hikmet Ersek and should occupy most of his time. Think of Western Union, and its yellow placard advertising an agent location comes to mind. Lastly, how do you see digital continuing to drive your services in the future? Its reach is staggering: present in more than 200 countries and territories, transacting in 130+ currencies, with approximately 150 million people having used Western Union to either send or receive funds over the last year. Singh is a proponent for a Central Bank Digital Currency, which he says is significantly different to the digital assets such as BitCoin and Ethereum, which can fluctuate wildly in value over short periods of time. We know there are certain systems that we cannot just move to the cloud straight away such as the AS400 IBM mainframe, but weve managed to take the ecosystem that surrounds our legacy technology and move it to the cloud and we think we can get everything to the cloud before the end of the year. [7]While cryptocurrencies are an obvious threat to Western Unions cross-border money transfers, Blockchain also can be used in a range of imaginative ways. Western Union has gained a comprehensive view of the customer while running the Data Cloud on AWS. We also innovated to make our services more inclusive for customers by creating new ways to send funds digitally and offering real-time digital account payouts. While Singh and his team have been occupied with the technology transformation taking place at Western Union, the breakneck speed at which the financial services and payments industry is changing means they also have to be planning for the longer-term. Others prefer to prepare a transaction online and then go to a retail location to pay cash. People who knew how a team or a group worked before can come in and see its night-and-day different. DENVER-(BUSINESS WIRE)-The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, today announced that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in fast growing Saudi Digital Payments Company, or stc pay, a fully owned subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company. But Western Union is missing the true potential of blockchain for its business. The reason for that is due to the huge increase in demand for our digital services as lockdowns were implemented across many different geographies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press And the new business model may require a very different RPP (traditional money transfer process vs. transfer via blockchain). Gartner Magic Quadrant for Low-Code Application Platforms, 2023. Packaged Goods, Engineering Its an ecosystem of complementary platforms that enable a seamless, single customer experience I think thats such a powerful proposition.. Western Union launched its digital banking app in Germany and Romania in Spring 2022, following 11 months of iterative development. Navigate In the past several years, the Englewood, Colo.-based company has made a point to develop and [] <br><br>My Leadership Philosophy<br><br>I am an . Every year or two we rescore ourselves in a company-wide exercise to see where were making progress and where were falling behind. Digital transformation of journalism and media in Serbia: What has gone We're making content recommendations better for thousands of readers. Entertainment, Professional These agents typically manage retail stores across the world, and offer Western Union money transfer services in exchange for a commission. In the same way that they say it takes a whole village to raise a child, it takes an army of people with the right skillsets and approaches to undertake a challenge like this. Society Updated: 01-06-2022 - 11:45. Data privacy and security practices . We wanted plug-and-play convenience to integrate any technology.. These are seismic factors currently redefining our world, earning their own epochal moniker: The Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Data Cloud is increasingly becoming a facilitator for digital transformation initiatives, and while there are many facets to that story, our customers often tell us how three critical elements play a central role: being able to access and share live data; being able to share data without having to move it; and the ability to securely access third-party data. Divestiture Will Support Western Union's Strategic Focus on its Global Cross-Border Payments Platform and Digital Capabilities Sources for images:Western Union vs. Bitcoin, Bitland,MyWU,Ripple Union. Our leadership team remains true to our vision and values, putting customers' evolving needs at the center of our innovation and holding up trust and convenience as the hallmarks of our business. Western Union's investment in India is part of a broader fintech and innovation strategy that is driving the company's digital transformation. Mohua is a marketing leader with over 15 years of experience in building and leading brands across industries. Western Union's digital transformation - Think with Google Strategic partnerships working with platforms like Google is a critical piece of that. Digital transformation can refer to anything from IT modernization (for example, cloud computing), to digital optimization, to the invention of new digital business models. Western Union Announces Agreement to Sell Western Union Business The Baupost Group is a $31 billion Boston-based investment firm. 9-30 (describing four types of innovations incremental, modular, architectural and radical classified by their impact on a business core components and the relationships between those core components). Rica, Hong So well go from maybe four pilot teams to a plan to scale out across 400 people and maybe 30 teams next year. Its important to understand that business stakeholders are customers of our data. Western Union's Customer Journey Digital Transformation Fueled by NICE It took six months to do the bare minimum. . Cloud services such as cloud data platforms have become cost-efficient, high performance calling cards for any business that leverages big data. Rokas kudas - Quality Assurance Manager - Western Union | LinkedIn Western Union uses a central team to build new capabilities across the business. Jaffin: Western Union has a culture of innovating to meet customer needs, and the past 12 months have shown us that quick pivots can drive lasting change. [9]Western Union recently dipped its toes into blockchain. Leadership Team. Discover how Santander Consumer Finance replaced 70% of their core IT systems in three years with OutSystems. It requires a change in process and culture, the adoption of a common lingo, executive buy-in, and a center of excellence to ensure enterprise-wide success. He shares his views on digital transformation and economic opportunities for all. At its core is a migration from on-prem to a cloud-based infrastructure, which it believes is key to allowing the organisation to scale and evolve into a company with the clout of an established financial institution combined with the agility and flexibility of a modern FinTech. (2017) Monitoring Media Pluralism in Europe: Application of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2016 in the European Union, Montenegro and Turkey. Revenue from Western Union's digital money transfer services spiked from $600 million in 2019 to over $850 million in 2020. Driving Western Union's tech transformation - Digital Bulletin Western Union also opened franchise stores, which offer money transfer services as well as onsite currency exchanges. Western Union now has more than 550,000 agent locations in more than 200 countries. Banco Santander Consumer Portugal Adopts OutSystems as its Digital Transformation Platform. Today, our omnichannel platform places Western Union in a unique position where our physical network and our digital efforts combine to provide customers with a host of options to transfer money, whether in cash, card into billions of bank accounts, online, using our App or one of our 17 mobile wallet partners. Achieving that is going to give Western Union agility, stability and resilience and allow us to focus on product development, because we know that our technology is going to sit in the cloud and take up a lot less of our time. We have a lot of great ideas in terms of investments to drive that topline revenue growth, but we needed ways to fund those. Talends technology has been used similarly in response to people impacted by floods in Haiti and to Indian citizens at the height of the countrys COVID-19 crisis. [2] Westar 1, Wikipedia, accessed April 2018. The second aspect is our agile work, where we spin up teams that have learned and are now experts in using agile methodologies for product launches or IT development. The partnership with Talend has evolved over the last few years and was originally established to provide our business and technology teams a fast and efficient way to build data pipelines. And when that happens, they start to see further opportunities for continuous improvement, leading them to new ideas about things they can do to improve efficiency or effectiveness. My Career Summary Anil Santhapuri is a values-based and results-oriented Talent professional, with 20 years of professional experience in the areas of talent management, learning & leadership development. To accelerate application development, improve agility, and provide great digital experiences, the company chose OutSystems as its high-performance low-code platform. The transformation of Western Digital to a Live Enterprise Modernization of legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications provides an opportunity for a technical upgrade as well as a transformation of the core business, according to IDC. Created: 05-05-2021 - 17:15. Second, we increased our use of digital media to reach customers and build a feedback loop. And its not something you can achieve really quickly, its a multiple-year process. 1 (March 1990), pp. Business Application Services, Service Experience It&#39;s a physical branding and marketing component that few money-transfer providers can match but one that&#39;s of diminishing value in a digital world. Filipino workers abroad), they need to bring physical money somewhere, and most of the fintech companies in remittance space dont have their own channels (they often partner with local kiosks). With the blockchain environment, there may be value in the technology as it becomes more mature and efficient. Need a Lenten fish fry? There's an interactive map for that The pilots help get buy-in across the organization, and then once we have that buy-in, it provides the resources necessary to scale. If any of these should fit what you're looking for, consider exploring a career with Western Union. Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Western Union, MFS Africa Partner to Enable Money Transfers into Digital transformation & economic opportunities - Blog - Western Union The primary reason we decided to go through with this transformation is that we saw an opportunity to positively impact revenue through our daily operations and behaviors. Contributed to establishing Quality Assurance, Training and Documentation strategy and processes for AML Operations functions. Western Union. As such, when Western Union embarked on its technology transformation, it was keen to recruit personnel who could help achieve its vision. As weve done that, everyone has started to speak the same language, whether its talking about going to huddles, doing process confirmations, conducting one-on-one coaching, or maybe doing floor walks. . Three things were front-of-mind as we evaluated OutSystems, explains Tom Mazzaferro, Chief Data and Innovation Officer at Western Union. The aim of this paper is to sketch a brief history of complex digital transformation of media and . In 1861 it sent the first transcontinental telegraph. Discover the latest data, insights, and inspiration from Think with Google. Furthermore, a chain of retail outlets is expensive. Discover the latest software purchases and digital transformation initiatives being undertaken by Western Union and its business and technology executives. Arvie de Vera - LinkedIn Before OutSystems, we typically released every six weeks. With a strong base of over 4 million customers and an established regional brand in the fast-growing digital wallet market, Western Union believes that stc pay is poised to experience strong growth in the future. I have successfully directed virtual teams working on Mastercard integrations, Western Union and MoneyGram. 12. We serve all customer segments: from digital natives who are never without their smartphones to the 4 billion people on earth the World Bank estimates arent online yet., Western Union is strongly committed to migrants and to refugees: migration is at the heart of our business. Board of Directors. Alonso Calderon - Enterprise Technology Operations Center Manager Western Union is trying to use Blockchain as an incremental or modular innovation, when in fact it could be an architectural orradical innovation (see chart below) introducing entirely new businesses that fit well into Western Unions existing capabilities. In 2011, Western Union opened an office in San Francisco to ramp up its digital operation. SEED aims to improve education and employability of students from low socio-economic backgrounds, especially children of refugees, migrants, and local families. Youre starting to see that happen culturally. Tom Mazzaferro, Chief Data Officer at Western Union together with Nick Halsey, CEO at Okera talk about the technology that Western Union has adopted to help build new products and Western Union, Chief Data Officer: Digital Transformation Initiatives (Part 3) | Cloud | cdomagazine.tech However, Western Union would be wise to form a new, separate unit for exploring blockchain services. Thats not to say cloud is always cheap, it can be expensive but we have a very stringent Review Board to keep our costs in check, so cost reduction is something about which we are confident.. The author approaches the problem using public. NICE have announced Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, has advanced customer experience through improved . From apps that save lives to those that process loans in a Western Union Digital Banking is offered by Western Union International Bank GmbH. The pandemic really accelerated the digital transformation journey; the plan was for it to be rolled out in three years but that timeframe became 18 months. The service, which is set to launch in Madagascar, will see funds from around the world move through payment rails operated by MFS Africa, the continent's largest payment gateway.. MFS Africa's digital payments network connects more than 400 million mobile money wallets, more than 200 million bank accounts across Africa, and more than 200,000 agents in Nigeria, to enable cross-platform and . An undisputed leader in the global payments space, Western Union is driving a company-wide technology transformation, underpinned by migrating its infrastructure from on-prem to the cloud. Convera's Next Steps: Western Union Business Solutions - Forbes The paper analyzes the issues of digital transformation in the European Union in such key dimensions as financing digitalization and implementing public policy to bridge the digital divide in the EU member countries. When we started the transformation project, we came at it from the perspective of this being a cultural transformation just as much as a process transformation. There were definitely times I was looking at costs and thinking how I was going to explain to finance, or my CFO, he says. [5]. How Western Union accelerated digital during the pandemic If you are a new customer: now you can transfer your FIRST money transfer for FREE*. But for all its success, Western Union is undoubtedly a legacy player in a market that has been truly disrupted in recent years, with smaller and more agile outfits making waves in the increasingly digitised payments space. This will enable the company to maintain its high . First, Western Unions third party agents may try to thwart any concerted moves to digital platforms, seeing such a move as a threat to existing commission revenues. Western Union reduced data warehousing costs by 50% and has saved millions through streamlined data engineering and administration after moving more than 30 data stores, including on-premises data, into Snowflake. Cole heads the 169-year-old company's digital transformation efforts, including the design and development of the software powering those consumer-facing platforms. We are also launching new products into the market, including a pilot for digital banking services in select markets in Europe and a revamped loyalty programme, which require us to capture data from our central warehouses to drive decision making, marketing and customer acquisition. We continue to experiment with the technology and time will tell if it offers a better alternative to traditional rails.. Finally, shareholders may punish Western Union for moving away from its higher margin core business to focus instead on simpler, lower-cost digital money transfers. Harare Responsible for . The transformation of a legacy company whose roots lie in the era of the telegraph involves more than just lean deployments and agile methodologies. Western Union Promo Codes | 30% Off In March 2023 | Forbes We do that both in-line, so you as a manager go and visit your own organization, but also visit other functions. Similarly, Western Union's ethos is based on empowering the aspiring populations of the world with accessible financial tools to improve the lives of their loved ones and communities. January 25, 2019 | Video. Join us to learn how your organization can become a leader in the Data Economy and the business benefits that result. Nov 2011 - Present11 years 5 months. Its one of the most widely used platforms from a data perspective and were expanding our relationship with Talend to start using some of its data quality products as well. The new generation of customers, especially Millennials, want to find us in the ecosystem of messaging apps.. of Use, Payment McKinsey's Kausik Rajgopal and Lang Davison recently sat down with Western Union's CEO to talk about its multicultural customer base (and . Thank you for this great post, Hans. "As a digital enabler and a pioneer in the digital transformation, we aspire to play a vital role in the vision of the Saudi . How Western Union achieved Digital Transformation with Infosys and Oracle Deep divides in digital connectivity, internet use, and access remain. Group, Infosys Revenue Management Platform for Banking, About My team and I had thought of the future being digital, of course, but the pandemic really forced us to make it a reality for the business. The partnership will enable funds to be sent from countries around the world to mobile wallets across Africa through the organization's licensed payment rails. Meanwhile, new fintech players like Transferwise are able to offer cash transfer services for a fraction of the price since their operations are 100% online. These strategies are paying off. Leaders across many industries and companies of all sizes report that one of their biggest challenges is siloed data. Sydney Mahan, The First Transcontinental Telegram was sent to DC 155 Years Ago, Washingtonian.com, Oct. 25, 2016. We position ourselves as creating opportunity for financial inclusion by bridging gaps in the financial services sector. Poland followed later in 2022, while plans are at hand to launch Italy by the end of the year. We developed the whole front-end for the app in less than four months., Western Union uses OutSystems for customer-facing apps, back office, and workflow solutions. In Western and Central Africa, only 36% of the population has access to broadband connectivity. During its February 2018 earnings call, CEO Hikmet Ersek announced that Western Union is experimenting with Ripple for settling transactions and for capital optimization, and is also testing Ripples native currency (XRP).[10]. That helps us refocus on the particular market-shaper practices that we need to double down on in order to continue improving during our transformation journey. Our App has grown to become one of the industrys most widely used international money transfer apps and a Top 20 finance app in the App Store., Not at all. Garden, The Economist In the past, JSON storage and analysis required specific JSON databases. Board Committees. Solutions enabled - Oracle Revenue Management and Billing, Oracle Business Intelligence, Infosys Transaction Reconciliation System, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Solution and Services, Infosys Oracle Services, part of Infosys Cobalt. So youre really talking about game-changing differences between how processes worked before and after. [1] The first transcontinental telegraph was sent on October 24, 1861, from the Chief Justice of California to President Abraham Lincoln. Western Union must adapt to an increasingly mobile world: if Western Union doesnt develop low-cost mobile money transfers, Western Union wont be able to compete with new competitors like Ant Financial and Zelle. Since 2008, Huawei has offered a wide and expanding range of . Secure, touchless, digital money transfers were a safe, reliable way for people to send funds where they needed to, so we leaned in there. [8]. Western Union is also focused on the global remittance market. Companies like Venmo(PayPal) and Zelle(joint venture by several large U.S. banks) have deep pockets, but so far are mostly competing in domestic payment markets. Snowflake: What are a few highlights of how Snowflake is helping with digital transformation? Think of Western Union, and its yellow placard advertising an agent location comes to mind.