- Drop in overall revenue reported by the firm
- A rise in digital money transfer revenue, however, was reported
- “Our top priority now is the safety and well-being of all of our stakeholders,” said the firm’s CEO
World-famous international money transfer firm Western Union has provided shareholders and the wider industry with an update on how it performed financially in the last quarter.
The release from the firm showed that it had earned $1.2 billion in revenue across the quarter from January to March – a figure represented a drop of 11% compared to the year before the period when reported.
And it also revealed that consumer-to-consumer (C2C) revenues, which overall accounted for around 85% of the firm’s overall revenue in the period in question, were down by 4% when reported.
Digital money transfer revenues, though, were up by over 20% when reported.
The news came against the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has caused economic uncertainty.
In a statement, the President and CEO of Western Union – Hikmet Ersek – said that the goals of the firm had “never been more relevant” given the crisis.
“In these unprecedented times, Western Union’s mission to serve our customers in their efforts to support families, communities, and businesses around the world has never been more relevant,” he said.
“We are pleased that the progress we have made in our digital focused growth strategy, coupled with our leading cross-border, cross-currency platform and strong financial condition have positioned us well to deliver our essential services during this crisis and to drive profitable growth in the future.”
And he went on to explain that the firm was now aiming to ensure that staff, customers and partners were safe and well.
“Our top priority now is the safety and well-being of all of our stakeholders: employees, customers, agents and partners, and shareholders, and we are taking appropriate actions; implementing business contingency plans, modifying commercial practices, and focusing on the stability and competitive position of our company,” he explained.
“Over the long-term, we are confident that our resilient fundamentals, strong financial position, and sound strategy will enable us to expand our unique global money transfer and payment ecosystem to existing and new customer segments,” he added.
The crisis caused by the pandemic is worrying for any business.
But this release from Western Union just goes to show that, for large and relatively secure and prudent businesses at least, things might not be too scary.
Despite the fact that there was a significant decline in revenues for the firm, the “resilient fundamentals” that Hikmet Ersek referred to are clearly standing Western Union in good stead.
Perhaps it is the smaller firms which don’t have Western Union’s size and prestige which will be more worried about the existential threats that coronavirus might pose.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the face of the cross border payments industry, and this release from Western Union is just one example of how that has happened
To see what’s happening to other firms, visit our magazine pages.
