It is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado (USA). It has also operated outside North America since 1989, and in 1991, it opened the headquarters of the fledgling Western Union International in Paris.
Today, Western Union is part of First Data Corporation and has more than 4.400 distribution points in five of the largest European markets: Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The international division has grown by more than 30% each year, and Western Europe became the company's most important market, with the exception of North America.
Western Union also has a presence in Eastern Europe. The 4.600 new locations added to that market in the third quarter of 2002 confirm the strong growth of the American company on the continent.
Antoine Bocchino, Head of Business for Western Union in Spain and Portugal, highlighted in an interview with MONEDA ÚNICA some of the reasons that could explain the company's great success worldwide, making it a global leader in money transfer services: "Our services are fast; money arrives at its destination, anywhere in the world, in just a few minutes. They are also reliable; the recipient always receives the money, and transactions are protected. We boast 100% customer satisfaction. The services are convenient; no bank accounts are required to use them, and Western Union also has the most extensive network of its own agents and partners to offer useful financial solutions for both personal and business needs."
The Western Union Agent network includes post offices (38%) and banks (31%).
Its international presence stems from the core objective of its work: to meet the needs of a specific type of client—those far from their home country. These are mostly emigrants, immigrants, students, tourists, temporary workers, and business travelers.
For them, and specifically for the European market, Western Union has developed three different business services:
-“Money in Minutes”: It is designed to send and receive money between people in a few minutes all over the world, through its network of more than 140.000 agents, located in 190 countries.
-“Quickpay”: allows you to make payments directly to companies, either by check or bank deposit. Always in minutes.
-“Quickcash”: allows you to send multiple money transfers from your own computer. It takes only minutes and can be withdrawn in cash in the local currency.
But Western Union has not been content with this type of client, since on May 5th it signed an agreement with the financial institution Caja España, which will provide the "Money in Minutes" service through telephone banking, becoming the first banking entity in our country, and the second in Europe,
The aim of the agreement is to expand banking access among the second-generation immigrant population and offer a fast repatriation service to bank account holders already established in Spain; this will allow Western Union to broaden its customer base, making it attractive and useful for virtually all types of users.
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