Blockchain is technology that uses an open, distributed ledger to permanently verify and record transactions between two parties. Western Union's investment in India is part of a broader fintech and innovation strategy that is driving the company's digital transformation. "As a digital enabler and a pioneer in the digital transformation, we aspire to play a vital role in the vision of the Saudi . Western Union. You stepped in as CMO just as COVID-19 was emerging, and I cant imagine that a global health crisis was what youd envisioned for your first 100 days. 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. Western Union has gained a comprehensive view of the customer while running the Data Cloud on AWS. Security, Infosys [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. We do that both in-line, so you as a manager go and visit your own organization, but also visit other functions. [8]. Business Unit Represents Approximately 7% of Company Revenue Divestiture Will Support Western Union's Strategic Focus on its Global Cross-Border Payments Platform and Digital Capabilities The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, together with Goldfinch Partners, LLC ("Goldfinch"), a private equity firm investing in . Western Union's stock price continued to climb the week of April 12 reaching $25.89, compared to a low of $21.66 in January. Mohua Das Gupta - Head of Marketing, Tata CliQ. 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. How did you navigate those early moments? From the earliest days of the pandemic, innovating the companys services to meet new patterns of consumer demand was an urgent matter. For more details about how Western Union went from 34 on-prem data warehouses to pursuing a multi-cloud strategy based on Snowflake, read our case study. Technology powers the data economy. Digital Transformation. We recently delivered a similar requirement to a higher standard using one OutSystems developer in just 15 days. Almost immediately, it was clear that with retail stores temporarily closed, digital would need to play a larger role in delivering service to customers. If CDIOs dont have the right culture on their teams, how can they help drive a data-first culture throughout their organization? [9]Western Union recently dipped its toes into blockchain. But it becomes more self-driven, and that really enables the scale. 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. 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. Key takeaways. Jaffin: Evolution meant expanding the ways in which customers experience the brand digitally. Navigating complex land title issues would also leverage Western Unions existing capabilities of dealing with a range of government regulations. Western Union is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Funds can be picked up in cash at half a million Western Union agent locations worldwide or transferred electronically to the recipients bank account or to a debit card linked to a digital wallet. When people send money to friends or family across the country or around the world, chances are good that Western Union is involved. In 2016, Western Union completed 268 million consumer-to-consumer transactions and 523 million business payments world-wide, moving more than $150 billion of principal for consumers and businesses. Poland followed later in 2022, while plans are at hand to launch Italy by the end of the year. Reliable for over 170 years. s full anLearn more about the data lake, a repository for structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data that provided direct access to raw organizational data. That system is fine in a cash based economy, but is becoming increasingly cumbersome as digital payments take hold in emerging markets. Dan Nordlander, senior vice president of Western Union Way Operations at Western Union, discusses his companys unique transformation journey with McKinseys Barr Seitz. People. SEED aims to improve education and employability of students from low socio-economic backgrounds, especially children of refugees, migrants, and local families. 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. The way we approached it was to use the central WU Way team for capability building. 28+ active Western Union coupons, discount codes & coupon codes for June 2021. We believe in the work we do, why we do it, and who we hire to get it done. Sub-Saharan Africa 3G and 4G mobile broadband coverage stands at 86% and 57% of the population, respectively. NICE have announced Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, has advanced customer experience through improved . Deep divides in digital connectivity, internet use, and access remain. Leadership Team. Western Union's digital transformation efforts may fail to drive earnings growth, but they may be enough to keep earnings steady going forward. For decades, Western Union benefited from network effects as it added density and new geographies. Lastly, how do you see digital continuing to drive your services in the future? Heres how, Customers want control over their data and wont hesitate to switch brands to get it, Global Insights Briefing: Holiday takeaways for marketers, From solar panels to spa days, see how 2022s top searches set the stage for 2023. Digital transformation in the EUBenefitting people, the economy and the environment. Its been a great combination. We teach employees, and then they execute. How Your Small Business Can Be Managed With The Right Databases, Why Businesses Must Focus on Introducing Technology in the Workplace. Engaged in problem resolution of complex . In [] This does have privacy implications and hence needs to be vetted out with regulatory authorities around the world. 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. In 2017 SEED supported 20 projects, impacting 5,000 children and youth; we hope to support event more in 2018.. The Western Union Way of digital transformation. One of its most high-profile hires was Harveer Singh, who was appointed as Chief Data Architect & Global Head of Engineering and previously co-led EYs Next Generation architecture & solutions for Financial Services. The idea is to orient the company around improving these market-shaper practices, really getting the health of our organization strong, and becoming confident that if we can improve the health of the organization, the financial results will follow. today more than 65% of Western Union's digital transactions originate on a mobile . Western Union has had a compound annual growth rate above 25 percent over the past five years, since the launch of the digital division. We offer consumers the choices they want, both for sending and receiving money, he stresses. Cookies help us deliver our services. As we get the pilots completed, the idea is to turn the WU Way team into more of a center of excellence. (2017) Monitoring Media Pluralism in Europe: Application of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2016 in the European Union, Montenegro and Turkey. The culture change has to be driven across teams to show how technology has enabled different and better outcomes. | Learn more about Rokas kudas's work experience, education, connections & more by visiting their profile on . 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. Dan Nordlander is senior vice president of Western Union Way Operations at Western Union, and Barr Seitz is senior manager of editorial and digital communications in McKinseys New York office. Having got the right people in place, Singh and his team set about building a partner network to supercharge Western Unions technology evolution. Western Unions platform provides seamless cross-border flows and its leading global financial network bridges more than 200 countries and territories and over 130 currencies and 500K partner networks. Really understand the business stakeholders problem and how you can fix or enable it. Western Union launched its digital banking app in Germany and Romania in Spring 2022, following 11 months of iterative development. One of these customers is Tom Mazzaferro, Chief Data & Innovation Officer of Western Union, which serves more than 100 million global customers through approximately 600,000 retail locations, and via its digital platforms. Many of its 150 million customers worldwide depend on money transfers to pay for food, electricity, medication, and other necessities. Mazzaferro: Snowflake is enabling quite a bit around analytics, reporting, event triggers, and settlement across our card providers. Does it offer a more seamless customer experience? Increasingly, digital technology and mobile devices play a key role in these transactions. For example, De Beers is trying to create a diamond blockchain for registration and authentication, to prevent the spread of conflict diamonds. Commenting on the speed comparison of OutSystems compared to previous traditional development, Tom said, "On an earlier project, we had ten people working on a pricing and UX project. You have to recognise that youre taking a massive journey as a company because it has always relied on data centres. Singh estimates that the project has reduced how much it spends on talking to its customers by a quarter, while markedly improving this critical function. By John Manning, International Banker. Mazzaferro: Keep it simple. Discover the latest software purchases and digital transformation initiatives being undertaken by Western Union and its business and technology executives. After exceeding expectations in 2020 despite the outbreak of COVID-19, the world's largest currency exchange service Western Union looks set to exceed US$1 billion in total annual revenues for its digital business segment in 2021 a major milestone for the company and a first in the world of digital cross-border payments.. Western Union's shift toward digital shows little sign of relenting. Lean deployments are a big piece of our overall transformation program. People who knew how a team or a group worked before can come in and see its night-and-day different. Part of this agility drive involved Western Union migrating its legacy on-prem IT infrastructure to the Cloud. Most popular: Free $20 Amazon.com e-gift code for every friend you refer (earn up to $500). It works with Talend to streamline data movement in compliance with GDPR across financial, reconciliation, auditing and trading partners. Jaffin: Our company mission is to enable financial transfers between people anywhere and everywhere; we had a responsibility to continue to deliver on that. The resulting report, How to Win in the Data Economy, includes anecdotes from dozens of customers, analysts, and influencers about how to succeed, all in addition to the survey itself, based on feedback from 1,000 senior business, technology, and data managers across five industries and from all over the world. Western Union Digital Banking is offered by Western Union International Bank GmbH. Western Union (WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The aim of this paper is to sketch a brief history of complex digital transformation of media and . Provide value consistently every month and deliver new value and capabilities. Policy . Today, structured and semi-structured data can easily coincide. Specifically,. The reason for that is due to the huge increase in demand for our digital services as lockdowns were implemented across many different geographies. 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. He reveals that Western Union was using multiple companies for each of its email, in-app and SMS communication channels. The role of CDO needs to encompass more than data management and data governance, more than even enabling the pipeline and managing the environments. 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. A doctor in London taps an app on her phone to transfer 500 pounds. Garden, The Economist Here are 4 steps they follow, Why durable solutions are needed to build the future of audiences, A data-privacy team can support your privacy transformation. Looking back at the results of our work over the last couple of years across all of our deployments, you see some really impressive gains. 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. Join us to learn how your organization can become a leader in the Data Economy and the business benefits that result. Some changes that used to take a month, we now deliver in around 48 hours.. Singh was brought in to help facilitate that leap, drawing on his expertise with business transformations, technology management, data architecture and collaborative working, backed up by various consulting roles at Deloitte, IBM and Accenture. 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 . [2] Westar 1, Wikipedia, accessed April 2018. Transformation, Cyber I have successfully directed virtual teams working on Mastercard integrations, Western Union and MoneyGram. Learn what is a data platform, which encompass a range of elements required to support the data management cycle. All of that is dependent on people in the organization putting resources behind this kind of an agile transformation. Consumers are less aware that we have transformed ourselves into one of the largest digital money transfer firms in the world, with our digital activity generating well over $400 million revenues in 2017. Teams that may not previously have interacted with each other are now doing floor walks with each other. Automation reduces development toil, were more productive, so we dont need so many developers, and we dont end up with orphaned code when developers leave. For example, we began offering an option for telephone money transfer. But theyve been hugely supportive and as weve hit milestones, such as moving significant infrastructure completely to the cloud or achieving significant savings with the Marketing Cloud, we have built that business case. [8]David Thomas, Beyond the Hype: What Blockchain could mean for Africa, African Business Magazine, Feb. 26, 2018. Second, we increased our use of digital media to reach customers and build a feedback loop. 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. How Western Union achieved Digital Transformation with Infosys and Oracle. As such, when Western Union embarked on its technology transformation, it was keen to recruit personnel who could help achieve its vision. The transition from legacy systems to Oracle Solutions was critical to the strategy's success. The Transformation Story of Western Digital. When fully realised, he says, it will give Western Union the agility it is seeking, while also having a positive impact on its bottom line. The fusion of the digital and the physical, the irrepressible rise of new technologies. Western Union's digital services align with the UAE government's policy to create an economy driven by innovation and technology," said Salma Massoud, head of digital, Middle East and Africa . As the centerpiece of Western Unions omnichannel vision, the Western Union App is increasingly the primary touchpoint for customers: today more than 65% of Western Unions digital transactions originate on a mobile device globally. Three things were front-of-mind as we evaluated OutSystems, explains Tom Mazzaferro, Chief Data and Innovation Officer at Western Union. McKinsey's Kausik Rajgopal and Lang Davison recently sat down with Western Union's CEO to talk about its multicultural customer base (and . Before OutSystems, we typically released every six weeks. These strategies are paying off. Western Union will likely face internal resistance from three sources. 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. Today customers can commence their journey on our mobile App, pay for their transaction digitally or opt to pay cash from any of our participating Western Union retail locations, use wu.com or go directly to any of the 1,200 agent locations or Western Union-owned locations in Austria[i]. Meanwhile, innovators like Ant Financial(China) and M-Pesa(Kenya) are leveraging high mobile penetration rates in emerging markets, and are beginning to experiment with cross-border money transfers. After the catastrophic explosion in Lebanon in 2020, the two companies worked together to build data pipelines to help those affected by the incident and provide support to agents in the area. Country/region, Costa 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. Cole heads the 169-year-old company's digital transformation efforts, including the design and development of the software powering those consumer-facing platforms.