At Western Union, we believe in crossing borders—national, digital, and physical. That’s why our platform transcends these barriers, making it possible for individuals and businesses to move money easily and quickly across borders and currencies—in person, with a few clicks or swipes, or in a combination of the two.
First, we believe true innovation must consider the needs of customers on both sides of the digital divide. We recognize that while society is becoming more connected, a significant portion of the world’s population remains offline, and many people do not have access to financial services. Pairing our digital network and account and mobile wallet offerings with our retail cash network allows us to serve these customers with an inclusive and innovative global platform.
We take the complexity out of moving money around the world by making the global feel local. Our technology portfolio, range of application programming interfaces (APIs), foreign exchange and settlement engine, agent network, and anti-money laundering and fraud-detection capabilities combine to make Western Union one of the world’s largest money movers for consumers and businesses. And we’ve recently begun offering our cross-border vision to other companies—including financial institutions and payment providers— powering them to move money and make payments.
Our PayCode service partnership with Amazon is an example of this partnership model. Using PayCode, customers make a purchase online at Amazon and then pay locally, in person, at Western Union agent locations—without the requirement of an internationally enabled credit or debit card. The PayCode service is live in 21 countries, including the U.S., where it was launched in September 2019.
Our global platform combines our robust digital footprint in 75+ countries, settlement infrastructure, treasury and compliance capabilities, a 550,000-location retail network, and the ability to send money and payments to more than four billion bank accounts and wallets.
The easier money moves, the faster it gets where it needs to be—to the people, businesses and communities who will use it to make their lives better. To learn more about how Western Union is using our platform in new and innovative ways, you can view our second annual environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report.
