Western Union's digital banking platform is a complex ecosystem of partnerships from across the technology and fintech landscape. I also agree with you that the competitive advantage of Western Union is a broad network of retail footprint across the world. Women in Marketing: Executives who are building brand narratives [6], However, regulators cant keep pace with the wave of new blockchain applications. The Baupost Group is a $31 billion Boston-based investment firm. The way we approached it was to use the central WU Way team for capability building. Accelerating Digital Transformation in Western and Central Africa Top retailers use AI-powered campaigns to engage their most valuable customers. Now its more pull. Maybe it started out as more of a push, where we were looking to come in and work with a team. Institute, Infosys Innovation Imagine what we can do if you let us work with your team as well.. Ein Jahr Western Union Digital Banking in Deutschland: 6 % Zinsen fr Western Union powers your pursuit. Transfers can be delivered in cash or into a digital wallet or a bank account via electronic funds transfer. Team members were drawn from different continents and operating on different time zones. [12]Josh Constine, Western Union Brings Money Transfer and Its Tricky Fees to Chat Apps, TechCrunch.com, Feb. 4, 2016. In 1861 it sent the first transcontinental telegraph. What we are talking about is not cryptocurrency, it is not something that has to be mined. And if Western Union doesnt embrace and transform along with those technologies, it will fade away just like the telegraph. Feb 7, 2023. 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. Western Union's digital transformation sprints to mobile We caught up with Mazzaferro to dive deeper into how the Data Cloud enables ongoing digital transformation at Western Union: Snowflake: Tom, as CDIO you lead the charge on keeping Western Union at the forefront of data economy leadership. Consumers can 'Send Now, Pay Later' by borrowing up to AUD 2000 through Beforepay's wage-advance product on Western Union's digital channels. 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. Talends technology was used to bring various sources of data from different locations into a single place in rapid fashion, helping make decisions such as waiving fees for those sending funds to people caught up in the explosion. 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]. 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. Western Union is renowned for its unparalleled international network, with over 500,000 agent locations spanning 200 countries and territories. Leadership. Having to maintain two sets of procedures on-prem and cloud for 18 months to ensure business continuity is chief among them, while teams have had to escalate a company-wide transformation during a pandemic. Western Union (NYSE: WU), a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments and Zain Cash, the award-winning mobile financia . 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. Swanback said a . 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. On May 17, 2018, at the Digital Assembly in Sofia, Bulgaria, the European Commission launched the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans. In the latest step in its digital journey, Western Union recently launched a bot that enables Facebook Messenger users in the United States to send money to more than 200 countries, across 130 currencies, from within the messaging app. Western Union and Beforepay Offer 'Send Now, Pay Later' Service to Consumers for International Money Transfers Western Union can leverage such physical presence to win this new innovative space. Product Director, United States Money Transfer. Now that these pilots are winding down, its been easy to get the support across the organization to find the resources necessary to establish teams that can scale it out in different areas across the company. In the past, JSON storage and analysis required specific JSON databases. When you see those people who are proactive and have aspirations, you are able to almost make them role models and build really effective ecosystems around them.. Western Union offers digital transactions in 70 countries to move money around the world. Its important to understand that business stakeholders are customers of our data. . Pay for your transfer instantly with a debit or credit card** or start a money transfer and complete the payment in cash at a nearby agent location. Western Union. 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. Sources for images:Western Union vs. Bitcoin, Bitland,MyWU,Ripple Union. His career span includes working with organizations like FIS, Western Union, HCL Technologies, CGI, Mahindra Satyam and iGate Global Solutions. People. Western Union (WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Western Union's cross-functional tech teams pushed out expanded digital options and real-time visibility on the status of its retail locations worldwide. Western Union is working alongside Amazon Web Services (AWS) and AWS Partners to transform and expand its business, including the launch of a new digital bank. 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. ene. Some development teams suffer 100 percent attrition in two to three years., "OutSystems helps in many ways. Snowflake: What are a few highlights of how Snowflake is helping with digital transformation? Guide for Suppliers, Select Western Union is the worlds first P2P company. Not just front-end, but back office and our contact center. Over the last two years, Singh has been accelerating Western Union's tech plan. To accelerate application development, improve agility, and provide great digital experiences, the company chose OutSystems as its high-performance low-code platform. Seven months after Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group announced they were purchasing Western . (2013) Comparing Media Systems beyond the Western World. 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 . [1] The first transcontinental telegraph was sent on October 24, 1861, from the Chief Justice of California to President Abraham Lincoln. The Western Union Way of digital transformation. [5]. Data and insights gave us the ability to make important strategic decisions in the throes of what could have been a panic. [9]Western Union recently dipped its toes into blockchain. But you say its about more than technology? Open a free Western Union Digital Banking bank account to manage your international finances and make instant, transfer fee-free* money transfers to other Western Union Digital Banking account holders. be to drive digital transformation and . Western Union has innovated before. Commenting on the advantages of development on OutSystems, Tom says, We estimate that were getting new products to market at least twice as fast as competitors, and were probably using a tenth of the resources they are on front-end development. Western Union video | re:Invent 2021 | AWS Key takeaways. The relationship with Talend has enabled Western Union to help its global customer base in times of real need. The company wanted to improve the digital experiences offered to customers and build new digital bankingproducts to extend its relationship with customers. Us, Terms Markets are perpetually shifting and change is unavoidable, but to keep up with those shifting tides companies need to stay focused on digital transformation. . Jaffin: Its important for us to continue trying new technology that gets us closer to customers and their changing needs, like advanced analytics and other tools. Western Union is doing that. your next, Infosys While the pace of change has been considerable, the leadership team at Western Union has been focused on implementing a large-scale technology 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. Data privacy and security practices . Western Union now has more than 550,000 agent locations in more than 200 countries. Entertainment, Professional To that end, Singh has built on an existing relationship to forge a highly valuable partnership with Salesforce and oversee the roll-out of its industry-leading Marketing Cloud. Western Union is to shed its Business Solutions unit, with investment firms Goldfinch and Baupost set to acquire the business for $910 million in cash. Services, High Its created a need for financial sector brands to step up and help by democratizing access to their services via mobile phones. We caught up with Mazzaferro to dive deeper into how the Data Cloud enables ongoing digital . In Western and Central Africa, only 36% of the population has access to broadband connectivity. Western Union Google Pay Integration: Interview With Vice - Monito In [] Security, Infosys Goldfinch Partners is a private equity firm investing in businesses specialising in digital transformation. She has extensive experience in leading strategic marketing and has worked with brands like Myntra, Arrow, and Amante. 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. Since 2008, Huawei has offered a wide and expanding range of . It is far more stable than that and can be used for near instant settlements across the board, while providing liquidity to Reserve Banks. Marketing tactics evolved to attract digital customers, who have a different profile from traditional retail customers. Originally, the capacity of our on-prem environments wasnt projected to hit capacity until 2022, but we could see that point was going to be reached in 2020, so that meant a real acceleration.. Western Union Digital Banking is offered by Western Union International Bank GmbH. Reframe blockchain from a threat to an opportunity, by creating a new autonomous unit. Over the last two years, Singh has been accelerating Western Union's tech plan. Thats the high performancewe rely on with OutSystems., Low-Code for Digital Financial Services Delivery. Western Union has gained a comprehensive view of the customer while running the Data Cloud on AWS. ", Looking back to why Western Union chose OutSystems, Tom says, We serve millions of customers in over 200 countries and territories, and we want to give them the best possible customer experience. Stephanie Pankau - Product Director, United States Money Transfer Prior to implementing Snowflake in 2021, Western Unions data spanned 34 on-premises data warehouses, resulting in latency and operational burdens. Navigate What is the Best High-Yield Dividend Stock to Buy Now? Our 7 Top Picks He praises the vendor support and namechecks first AWS for enabling the organisation to quicken the pace of its procurement process and spin up workloads to the cloud faster than had originally been anticipated. [11] Western Unions footprint of retail locations gives it a worldwide laboratory for experimenting with blockchain applications. The network upgrade will pave the way for Econet to deliver 5G connectivity in more . Thats changing. 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. To explore this content and receive communications from Google, please sign in with an existing Google account. 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 There was a need to accelerate the process we wanted to undertake, I have that experience of transformation projects happening on a massive scale. 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. Western Union Announces Agreement to Sell Western Union Business Lastly, how do you see digital continuing to drive your services in the future? Technology powers the data economy. In 2017, Western Union invested $200 million and 20% of its workforce on compliance functions. We continue to experiment with the technology and time will tell if it offers a better alternative to traditional rails.. Western Union Careers There were definitely times I was looking at costs and thinking how I was going to explain to finance, or my CFO, he says. Western Union is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. But new innovators are highlighting a problem for Western Union: multi-homing is high with money transfers. We recently delivered a similar requirement to a higher standard using one OutSystems developer in just 15 days. Migrants, who typically are the link between cash economies underserved by financial institutions, and highly bancarized, digital economies, benefit from Western Unions unique ability to combine the physical and the digital. 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). Western Union Digital Banking 4+ - App Store 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. We use OutSystems in multiple layers of our tech stack, says Tom. So, constant iteration and rapid delivery are crucial. 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 . Kong, New Digital transformation can refer to anything from IT modernization (for example, cloud computing), to digital optimization, to the invention of new digital business models. How Western Union accelerated digital during the pandemic All of that is dependent on people in the organization putting resources behind this kind of an agile transformation. Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. The difference with OutSystems is that we can do that fast and at scale, deploying experiences that are fast to load, reliable, and secure. 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. With OutSystems, we deploy twice every week. Group, Infosys Revenue Management Platform for Banking, About 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. | Learn more about Rokas kudas's work experience, education, connections & more by visiting their profile on . . Board of Directors. 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.