Like businesses everywhere, Western Union was dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But by drawing on our 169-year history of innovating to meet our customers where- and however they need us, in good times and bad, we quickly began piloting several initiatives to ensure that customers who were unaccustomed or unable to use digital transfers could still send and receive money:
- Home delivery of money transfers in cash in select markets, including Colombia, Jordan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka
- “Digital location” concierge services in certain countries, which offered personalized phone or video support to help customers make digital money transfers from the comfort and safety of their homes
- westernunion.com service in five additional countries
You can read more of the ways we met our customers needs in our 2019 ESG Report.
In addition, we also worked closely with governments in selected countries to speed up the acceptance of electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) measures, enabling new senders and receivers of money to stay safe at home while meeting regulatory requirements designed to fight illicit money transfers.
We also have taken and continue to take aggressive measures to keep our employees, vendors and business partners safe, such as ongoing encouragement to work from home, providing the technical means and tools to do so, and appropriate health and social-distancing support for those who must work in an office setting.
Whatever the post-COVID ‘new normal’ turns out to be, Western Union is committed to doing our part to help keep our customers, employees and other stakeholders safe—so they can help us fulfill our mission to move money across borders and help sustain the global economy.
