Western Union Sees 3% Revenue Growth in Digital Business

Western Union, a provider of cross-border money movement and payment services, has focused on digital conversion to enhance its services and improve customer experiences.

The company’s third-quarter results released Wednesday (Oct. 25), show growth of 3% in its branded digital revenue year over year (YoY) for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

During the earnings call, Western Union’s CEO Devin McGranahan discussed the progress made in the company’s digital conversion journey.

“Third quarter results exceeded our expectations and demonstrate a continued positive trajectory against our ‘Evolve 2025’ goals,” he said. “This quarter’s strong results were driven by continued revenue growth from the change in Iraqi monetary policy and by achieving positive global branded digital revenue growth a full quarter ahead of our expectations.”

Its Evolve 2025 program was put in place in 2022 and aims to improve revenue numbers and bring financial services to emerging populations worldwide.

According to the earnings report, branded digital revenue was up 10% year to date and comprises 21% of its consumer-to-consumer segment revenues for the same time period. Western Union defines branded digital revenue as “transactions conducted and funded through websites and mobile [apps].”

For the third quarter, the digital portion of the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions was up 12% YoY. The digital segment was 28% of total C2C transactions, the report said. Consumers conducted 70.6 million transactions with other consumers in the third quarter, an amount that was even YoY.

The digital conversion efforts have also extended to Western Union’s retail business, which has seen significant improvement in transaction trends. McGranahan announced that global retail transactions returned to flat YoY growth in Q3 2023. This marks a turning point for Western Union’s retail business, which had experienced declines in previous years. The company’s focus is on improving customer and agent experiences, expanding its controlled distribution strategy, and implementing dynamic pricing strategies.

Most recently, Western Union announced consumers in Mexico can now receive money via chatbot.

In addition to their digital and retail businesses, Western Union has been developing an ecosystem of accessible financial services. This includes relaunching its prepaid card in the U.S., developing a digital wallet in Europe and South America, and piloting partner-based lending solutions in Australia and Argentina.