التكنولوجيا وأخبارها بوابة الإمارات لتكنولوجيا المعلومات والإتصالات
Western Union Continues to Connect Communities and Economies at a Critical Time
Company releases second annual ESG report and highlights response to recent global crises
Western Union (NYSE: WU), a global leader in cross-border,
cross-currency money movement and payments, today
released its second annual Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) Report, which spotlights the Company’s
2019 ESG progress. The report also highlights Western
Union’s response and ongoing initiatives surrounding the
COVID-19 pandemic and social justice movements across
the globe in early 2020.
“Today, against the backdrop of COVID-19 and global
protests against social injustice, business’s role in building
a more united future has never seemed more relevant – or
more urgent. Serving our stakeholders in today’s world
takes determination and innovation. It demands that we
build unity through ingenuity to create new, lasting
solutions for people, businesses, and societies,” said
Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO, Western Union. “This
report provides an update on Western Union’s ESG efforts,
and how we are addressing some of the most pressing
global issues facing society, our shared environment, and
our Company.”
The report highlights six key areas where Western Union is
making an impact globally:
Connecting people and businesses to the global economy:
Our services connect people and businesses pursuing global
opportunities – for example, individuals looking to better
the lives of their families, and businesses looking for new
partners, customers, and markets. The transactions we
process build bridges across economies, geographies, and
cultures.
• In response to COVID-19, Western Union doubled down
on its commitment to serve customers with a range of new
offerings and resources including piloting home delivery of
money transfers, introducing “digital location” concierge
services to offer personalized phone or video support to
help customers make digital money transfers, expanding
westernunion.com to five additional countries bringing the
total to more than 75, and expanding real-time account and
wallet payout to 50 countries.
Fostering an engaging and inclusive workplace: Western
Union works to build and support a workforce that reflects
the global diversity of the 150 million customers we serve
in more than 200 countries and territories around the
world. It starts at the most senior levels of our business
and manifests itself throughout our Board of Directors and
our global workforce. We are actively engaging in open and
honest dialogue with our employees and we are committed
to playing a role in the fight for positive change globally.
2019 highlights include:
• Reaching gender parity with our customers and
employees: approximately half of our customers and half of
our global workforce are women.
• Our executive team in 2019 was comprised of 40%
women and includes leaders born in 10 different countries
who have wide-ranging global leadership experience.
Moving money with integrity: We are committed to using
the right combination of people and technology to protect
our customers and partners, keep illicit activity out of our
network, and ensure we conduct our business with
integrity.
• In 2019, we prevented $1.1 billion in fraudulent
transactions. Overall industry data suggests a growing rate
of fraudulent activity. Western Union’s fraud levels,
however, are trending downward.
• Our Financial Intelligence Unit continues to partner with
law enforcement and nonprofit entities to better target and
disrupt human trafficking financial flows. This team has
conducted approximately 1,800 human trafficking
investigations since 2013, resulting in hundreds of arrests
and the rescue of hundreds of victims.
Governing and managing for success: Western Union’s
governance structures and practices provide oversight and
guidance around critical issues, including ethics, board
diversity, executive compensation, fair competition, data
privacy, and cybersecurity, and board diversity. 2019
highlights include:
• Our Board is comprised of a wide range of nationalities
from around the world.
• Three of our 11 Board members were women.
Safeguarding our shared environment: We are committed
to acting responsibly to respect the environment and
minimize our footprint.
• 25% of building materials, by value, are made of recycled
materials at our global headquarters.
• We have equipped our major offices with state-of-the-art
video conferencing technology, which reduced the need for
air travel between locations, even prior to COVID-19.
Catalyzing change through the Western Union Foundation:
The Western Union Foundation works to provide vulnerable
youth with the skills needed to succeed in today’s global
digital economy, and to support people across the globe
through humanitarian relief.
• In 2019, the Western Union Foundation launched
Opportunity Beyond Borders, a three-year and $15-million
commitment to provide vulnerable youth with the skills and
training needed to succeed in today’s global digital economy.
• As the impact of COVID-19 spread across the globe,
Western Union and the Western Union Foundation
announced a global matching challenge, with a total
commitment of $1.3 million in customer, corporate,
employee, and agent donations towards the global fight
against the virus
