western union digital transformation

We're making content recommendations better for thousands of readers. Created: 05-05-2021 - 17:15. Digital Transformation. Markets are perpetually shifting and change is unavoidable, but to keep up with those shifting tides companies need to stay focused on digital transformation. [3], Western Union operates in three segments, with most of its revenues (79%) coming from the C2C segment: [4], Western Union became the dominant player in cross-border C2C money transfers through a platform strategyit connected people who wanted to send money across borders. Banco Santander Consumer Portugal Adopts OutSystems as its Digital Transformation Platform. Increasingly, digital technology and mobile devices play a key role in these transactions. . 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. Group, Infosys Revenue Management Platform for Banking, About And still others want to do it all online.. Instead, Western Union should fund and fully staff a separate unit that has preferential access to Western Unions resources, but is not restricted by legacy operators within Western Union. But new innovators are highlighting a problem for Western Union: multi-homing is high with money transfers. While WU is considered a global leader in their space, competitive insights and . Western Union, Chief Data Officer: Digital Transformation Initiatives Others see blockchain as an opportunity to help emerging governments become efficient and transparent, for example, by serving as the official land title registration. Specifically, how Data, Editors note: This is part of a series of blogs about the data economy. 2023 MWC Huawei Digital Leadership Seminar: Connecting Global Wisdom 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. We wanted plug-and-play convenience to integrate any technology.. 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. Board Committees. Rapid growth in technology was making it easy for international money transfers to take place online, Fellahi recalls. A lot of our big data environment is still on-prem and the mission is to move that completely to the cloud by the end of the year. 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. Cookies help us deliver our services. In Western and Central Africa, only 36% of the population has access to broadband connectivity. 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. Western Union has innovated before. . Updated on. Deloitte announces multi-year collaboration with AWS to co-innovate and engineer solutions that help institutions expedite the launch of digital banking services and modernize their legacy core banking stacks. Talend is our backbone for that work and have really evolved their product to meet our needs.. Singh was given autonomy to mould his teams, combining the skills already at Western Union with external talent, many of which were from a consulting background, resulting in a diverse and varied team, which he says proved invaluable. Western Union has had a compound annual growth rate above 25 percent over the past five years, since the launch of the digital division. . Sub-Saharan Africa 3G and 4G mobile broadband coverage stands at 86% and 57% of the population, respectively. Cash And Trade Magazine - For Cash and Trade professionals in the Think of Western Union, and its yellow placard advertising an agent location comes to mind. As the figure below shows, five components are needed to execute an organization's digital transformation: 1. Reflecting on the transformation to-date, Singh is clear that it hasnt come without its challenges. Western Union powers your pursuit. Western Union charges high fees since they need to cover rent and labor overhead. 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. This entails a leader or a manager being on the floor with people doing their day-to-day jobs, just observing the way they work. Almost immediately, it was clear that with retail stores temporarily closed, digital would need to play a larger role in delivering service to customers. We set up virtual war rooms, met with our executive team daily to strategize, and spoke to customers every week to keep a pulse on their needs. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. It's a physical branding and marketing component that few money-transfer providers can match but one that's of diminishing value in a digital world. 12. InsurTech & Crypto projects as the world embraces CX, Business Transformation and Digital . That system is fine in a cash based economy, but is becoming increasingly cumbersome as digital payments take hold in emerging markets. 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. The Future of Payments is Invisible | CIO [5] 2017 Annual ReportCEO Letter (noting Western Union has expanded its fund payout network to billions of bank accounts). [8]. She has extensive experience in leading strategic marketing and has worked with brands like Myntra, Arrow, and Amante. "As users turn to our services in bigger numbers and as many new digital players come to the market, we know we have to change," he says. How did you navigate those early moments? Business Unit Represents Approximately 7% of Company Revenue . of Use, Payment One moment later, in Shimla, a hill country city in India, close to the ridge of the Himalayan foothills, a cashier at the . The Western Union Foundation is actively supporting NGOs that help refugees and migrants around the globe through education and financial literacy. The gap between access and use is growing, with 56% of people in . Many CEOs are lured into spending too much time on legacy businesses, which don't need CEO oversight. On May 17, 2018, at the Digital Assembly in Sofia, Bulgaria, the European Commission launched the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans. [9]Clayton M. Christensen & Michael E. Raynor,The Innovators Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2003), Ch. (2017) Monitoring Media Pluralism in Europe: Application of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2016 in the European Union, Montenegro and Turkey. Kong, New 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. And that could be at an operation site or it could be more of a frontline thing like a sales executive. This would help Western Union objectively pursue new blockchain opportunities, even if those opportunities eventually cannibalize or destroy its existing C2C business. Western Union is also focused on the global remittance market. & Publishing, Logistics - Earn My WU points. 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. People are asking us, Hey, can you come help me? The company, which has been in the money-transfer business since 1871, launched online transfers via WU.com in 2000 and got into mobile money transfers in 2007. A doctor in London taps an app on her phone to transfer 500 pounds. Today, WU.com is available in 40 countries, with mobile apps in 18 of them. Cortex, Infosys Increasingly, digital technology and mobile devices play a key role in these transactions. Western Union launched its digital banking app in Germany and Romania in Spring 2022, following 11 months of iterative development. Our goal was to build a new Cloud-based IT architecture based on microservicesthat would allow us to integratemany different systems quicklyboth internal and external vendors, explains Tom. Digital transformation in Western Union must be driven from the top-down. Having found great success with its Marketing Cloud, Singh outlines his longer-term vision to connect a number of Western Unions central products. Its important to understand that business stakeholders are customers of our data. 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. There are 13 of these practices, and thats really how were assessing success with the transformation across the organization. They tend to be younger, they live online and they prefer to do everything there, at the touch of a button, Fellahi observes. - Access cash back rewards at the WU store. We teach employees, and then they execute. Salesforce has been such an important part of the digital experience journey.. In 2017 SEED supported 20 projects, impacting 5,000 children and youth; we hope to support event more in 2018.. be to drive digital transformation and . That created a need to act. The central transformation team helps do the capability building in training those resources up, and then they run their own scaled-out deployment. Western Union's digital transformation sprints to mobile What is the Best High-Yield Dividend Stock to Buy Now? Our 7 Top Picks In 1861 it sent the first transcontinental telegraph. The OutSystems platforms capabilities were immediately put to the test through 2021, as Western Union and its system integrator started development of its new digital banking app that includes a multicurrency bank account combined with money transfers, and other added benefits such as a Visa Platinum debit card. On March 1, Huawei held a "Digital Leadership Seminar" during Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona, Spain, attended by more than 60 high-level customers from global carriers, government enterprises, and KOL. I have successfully directed virtual teams working on Mastercard integrations, Western Union and MoneyGram. 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. Jaffin: We engaged with tech partners like Google almost immediately to refine our go-to-market strategy. 2023 Snowflake Inc. All Rights Reserved | If youd rather not receive future emails from Snowflake, unsubscribe here or customize your communication preferences, Snowflake for Advertising, Media, & Entertainment, unsubscribe here or customize your communication preferences. Manufacturing, Communication Sources for images:Western Union vs. Bitcoin, Bitland,MyWU,Ripple Union. [9]Western Union recently dipped its toes into blockchain. Western Union also opened franchise stores, which offer money transfer services as well as onsite currency exchanges. This does have privacy implications and hence needs to be vetted out with regulatory authorities around the world. Revenue from Western Union's digital money transfer services spiked from $600 million in 2019 to over $850 million in 2020. Seven months after Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group announced they were purchasing Western . Western Union Promo Codes | 30% Off In March 2023 | Forbes Were there tools or technology that were particularly helpful in your transformation? | Learn more about Rokas kudas's work experience, education, connections & more by visiting their profile on . Learn about JSON storage. Using OutSystems for customer-facing digital experiences, back office, and workflow solutions, Western Union launched new digital banking services in two countries in just 11 months. Western Union could use existing retail outlets as nodes on a land register blockchain, which could bring in new sources of revenue to those retail stores. Secure, touchless, digital money transfers were a safe, reliable way for people to send funds where they needed to, so we leaned in there. Teams that may not previously have interacted with each other are now doing floor walks with each other. Need a Lenten fish fry? There's an interactive map for that The transition from legacy systems to Oracle Solutions was critical to the strategy's success. 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. Western Union Google Pay Integration: Interview With Vice - Monito Looking ahead, the Sales Cloud will be connected to the Marketing Cloud, which in turn is connected to our Care Cloud, so that whenever something happens across any of those products we are able to react in a way that suits that customer. Jay Jaffin was just starting his role as Western Unions chief marketing officer when the pandemic arrived. Western Union: Reimagining a Financial Services Leader Infosys accelerated Western Union's digital transformation by harmonizing agent operations, implementing billing and collection standards, enabling modular growth, accelerating new product launches, enabling digital on-demand procedures, designing global accounting solutions based on one single template, supporting highly complex pricing and multiple business models, and massive management processes as a strategic technology partner. The reason for that is due to the huge increase in demand for our digital services as lockdowns were implemented across many different geographies. They have also triggered profound changes within global banking, demanding that lenders remain flexible, nimble, and innovative in their digital-banking strategies to meet customers' rapidly . UnionDigital Bank is the trusted bridge between innovation and regulation. I also agree with you that the competitive advantage of Western Union is a broad network of retail footprint across the world. Divestiture Will Support Western Union's Strategic Focus on its Global Cross-Border Payments Platform and Digital Capabilities Digital Bulletin exists to tell the story. Western Union launched its digital banking app in Germany and Romania in Spring 2022, following 11 months of iterative development. 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. We started function by function, looking at individual deployments across our different groups in the company. Stephanie Pankau - Product Director, United States Money Transfer The author approaches the problem using public. Over the last two years, Singh has been accelerating Western Union's tech plan. Western Union Embraces Digital Transformation - BaselineMag.com The pilots help get buy-in across the organization, and then once we have that buy-in, it provides the resources necessary to scale. However, Western Union would be wise to form a new, separate unit for exploring blockchain services. Western Union is renowned for its unparalleled international network, with over 500,000 agent locations spanning 200 countries and territories. Western Union has gained a comprehensive view of the customer while running the Data Cloud on AWS. Here is Swamy Sivasubramaniyan, Head of Financial Services and Settlement Platform for Western Union, discussing the digital transformation experience with Infosys and Oracle. Governments pay close attention to cross-border money transfers, and heavily regulate these services to prevent fraud, tax evasion, and other criminal activities. Analytics, API Economy & Western Union Digital Banking is offered by Western Union International Bank GmbH. Over the last two years, Singh has been accelerating Western Union's tech plan. Continue to partner with popular digital platforms to provide legacy C2C money transfer services. As an iconic brand for over 150 years, Western Union is constantly striving to innovate for their customers. Poland followed later in 2022, while plans are at hand to launch Italy by the end of the year. Security, Infosys Packaged Goods, Engineering Then think about the products you want to offer and how it can be a data-enabled product, such as being hyper-personalized. The EU is helping to boost Europe's digital capacities and create new opportunities for businesses and consumers while safeguarding basic rights. Microservices, Digital Process Services, High The Western Union Company (WU) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript All of that is dependent on people in the organization putting resources behind this kind of an agile transformation. What we are talking about is not cryptocurrency, it is not something that has to be mined. Digital transformation in the EUBenefitting people, the economy and the environment. A hugely significant piece of the transformation has come from rethinking how Western Union communicates with its vast customer base. Jaffin: Digital was critical in a few ways. It is our responsibility to enable businesses, problem solvers, regulators and communities to leverage fintech for the betterment of lives. For example, De Beers is trying to create a diamond blockchain for registration and authentication, to prevent the spread of conflict diamonds. Some development teams suffer 100 percent attrition in two to three years., "OutSystems helps in many ways. 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. One trend that has emerged as a result is the growing role of digital money transfers among people who may not otherwise use those services. To ensure those approaches were safe and secure, we partnered with governmental organizations to find new and secure ways to verify customers. The network upgrade will pave the way for Econet to deliver 5G connectivity in more . However, Western Union doesnt view its established retail business as totally separate from the digital world. Part of this agility drive involved Western Union migrating its legacy on-prem IT infrastructure to the Cloud. The company considers local preferences, as well, accepting about 10 payment methods, such as Apple Pay in the U.S. Our research identified 10 attributes of an organizations data infrastructure that enable it to take full advantage of the data economy, the global supply and, Editors note: This is part of a series about the data economy. Western Union must adapt to an increasingly mobile world: if Western Union doesn't develop low-cost mobile money transfers, Western Union won't be able to compete . Western Union began a mission to transform the settlement platform with streamlined retail and digital cross-border money transfer operations to overcome the challenges and constraints of their legacy settlement systems. [11] Western Unions footprint of retail locations gives it a worldwide laboratory for experimenting with blockchain applications. Beyond the public health crisis, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on personal finances, causing poverty levels and inequality to rise globally. We position ourselves as creating opportunity for financial inclusion by bridging gaps in the financial services sector. Western Union Launches Two Digital Banking apps in 11 Months 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. Behind those market-shaper practices are the lean tools and behaviors we develop and encourage. 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. Western Union's Customer Journey Digital Transformation Fueled by NICE - Innovative NICE Nexidia Customer Journey Optimisation provides powerful analytics to enhance customer experience. 35, No. Contributed to establishing Quality Assurance, Training and Documentation strategy and processes for AML Operations functions. Guide for Suppliers, Select We continue to experiment with the technology and time will tell if it offers a better alternative to traditional rails.. Rapid iteration is a crucial capability for Western Union, especially when designing customer experiencesin over 200 countries with local customer and regulatory requirements.

Providence Choice Vs Pebb Statewide, The Tingler Public Domain, Jack Lambert Website, Buc Ee's Brisket Taco Nutrition, Articles W

western union digital transformation