Western Union Celebrates 160 Years of Innovation
May 20 2011 - 11:43AM
Business Wire
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment
services, today celebrates 160 years of innovation, renewing its
focus on developing new ways of moving money for better. With
455,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories, in 2010
the company performed an average of nearly 1.7 million transactions
a day, or about 19 per second.
Western Union Singing Telegram
advertisement, 1955 (Photo: Business Wire); Publicidad del
Telegrama Cantado de Western Union, 1955 (Foto: Business Wire)
Western Union’s vast network supports a host of promising
financial services, including prepaid cards, bill payment,
in-country transfers, and account-based money transfer. And with a
position at the center of the emerging cross border mobile money
transfer infrastructure, Western Union is poised to stay ahead of
the evolving needs of consumers.
“As I look back at Western Union’s history, I am amazed by the
company’s incredible evolution, from our pioneering of the
telegraph business to our position today as a global leader in
money transfer solutions for individuals and businesses alike,”
said Western Union President and CEO Hikmet Ersek.
“Our longevity is an interesting fact, but it is our legacy that
really makes us proud. The money we help people send home changes
lives and builds economies. It is a virtuous cycle, when people pay
for education or for starting a new business,” said Ersek.
A History Rich in Innovation
Western Union, founded in 1851 as a telegraph business in
Rochester, New York, added its money transfer service in 1871 and
has since grown to become a global leader in the money transfer
industry. The company’s founders, Hiram Sibley and Samuel Selden,
set out to unite a haphazard web of telegraph lines into a unified
network, resulting in an efficient, growing business.
The birth of the telegraph industry in the 1800s reflected
society’s growing need for connections between friends, family and
businesses. In the 1900s, the company continued to innovate with
new technologies, from ticker tape to commercial satellites.
Western Union Today
Western Union today is unique. While the world’s financial
services industry is built for those with credit, plastic, stable
income and access to the Internet, Western Union focuses on making
it possible for millions of people to go places, prosper and build
better lives. Western Union is creating new possibilities for small
business owners who compete abroad and for everyday consumers with
financial needs and few others to whom they can turn.
Thanks to its consumers and Agents, Western Union continues to
prosper, reporting $5.2 billion in revenues in 2010. Its business
model generates strong cash flow which will aid growth strategies
going forward.
The company also leverages its expansive global network to
identify opportunities in developed and emerging markets where
giving back can make the most impact. Since 2001, the Western Union
Foundation has awarded more than $73 million in grants to more than
2,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in over 100 countries
and territories.
Western Union Historical Timeline
- Western Union founded in 1851; first
traded on NYSE in 1865
- Completed first transcontinental
telegraph across North America – 1861
- Introduced first consumer-to-consumer
money transfer service – 1871
- Began “time service” by broadcasting
the time across the country – 1877
- One of first 11 companies in Dow Jones
Average – 1884
- Introduced one of the first consumer
charge cards – 1914
- Sent the first singing telegram –
1933
- Provided direct desk-to-desk facsimile
communications – 1930s
- Pioneered city-to-city microwave radio
communications – 1943
- Launched the first commercial
communications satellites – 1974
- Pioneered commercial email – 1982
- Began consumer-to-business payment
services – 1989
- First Financial Management Corporation
(FFMC) acquired Western Union – 1994
- westernunion.com launched – 2000
- Western Union spun-off from First Data
as independent, publicly traded company – 2006
- Launched mobile money transfer service
– 2008
- Opened 400,000th Agent location – 2009
(currently 455,000)
- Launched Western Union Business
Solutions – 2010
- Introduced new app in U.S. enabling
money transfer directly from a mobile phone – 2011
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global
payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago
Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment
services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with
fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around
the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. The
Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services are offered
through a combined network of approximately 455,000 Agent locations
in 200 countries and territories. In 2010, The Western Union
Company completed 214 million consumer-to-consumer transactions
worldwide, moving $76 billion of principal between consumers, and
405 million business payments. For more information, visit
www.westernunion.com.
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