Big data has a number of important roles in businesses around the world. Savvy companies need to appreciate all of the advantages big data provides. Remittance is one of the most important areas where big data can utilized.
The Growing Role of Big Data in Remittance Businesses
With so many consumers around the world using money transfer services, the global digital remittance market has experienced unprecedented rates of growth over the last few years. Recent financial data from Western Union shows the company is leading this market. Recent revenue reports from its website show its digital partners increased more than 38% in 2020 from 2019. Companies that use financial data strategically can get the most value from it.
It also shows that fruitful partnerships with an array of organizations within big data companies have allowed Western Union to find newfound success in the global digital remittance market, fundamentally driving its recent unparalleled growth. The worldwide pandemic played a key role in the expansion in digital money transfer service, but the growth and business strategy was growing long before with its rates of growth beginning in late-2019.
Western Union’s CFO, Raj Agrawal, reports, “We saw more growth last year in our digital business than we ever have before and that’s now becoming about 20% of our consumer revenue.” Indeed, that much is proven as their digital remittance expanded by 45% in the first quarter of 2021 while the company’s overall revenue is up to $850 million from $600 million in all of 2020. That wouldn’t have been possible without the importance of big data.
Because of this spike in demand for digital money transfer services, Western Union is on pace to exceed $1 billion in digital revenue for the 2021 fiscal year by using sophisticated AI and data analytics tools. The company won’t rest on its laurels, however, reaffirming Western Union’s commitments to continue improving its online customer experience. They’re particularly invested in lessening registration time while putting an emphasis on better page speed to enhance user interface and its search rankings. Similarly, Western Union plans to further ease and streamline the process of accessing transaction statuses. These efforts are bound to attract new customers as their platform continues to evolve.
Western Union’s data-driven digital remittance platform already serves more than 150 million customers across over 200 countries worldwide. Their portfolio consists of 130 different currencies. It’s because of Western Union’s recent technological advancement to their payment platform that they’re able to provide digital remittance services to so much of the globe. It’s for this reason they have become an established industry leader. In terms of growth, it leads markets not only in the United States but all the major markets in Europe, such as Germany and France, and even Australia.
With this new rate of accelerated growth, Western Union fully expects to maintain a stronghold on the global digital remittance market far beyond 2021. They continue to exceed their business expectations as they evolve and find unique and improved solutions for currency remittance. Recent enhancements to the Western Union money transfer app alone helped the company distinguish its growth from its peers by a substantial margin.
Historically, most of the digital transactions were conducted at Western Union retail locations which make for an expansive network of outlets sited across the globe. They used data analytics tools to facilitate these transactions. In recent years, however, currency transfer services have shifted to payouts into Western Union’s account payout network. They’ve reported that almost 20% of their transfers are diverted to bank accounts. What’s even more impressive is that half of those transactions are taking place fluidly, in real-time.
Western Union’s efficacy to produce real-time international payments directly to a bank account is unquestionably one area that sets them apart. They’ve also maintained a stellar reputation for easy global settlement capabilities and strong regulatory compliance. Western Union has remained focused on individuals and businesses are provided with as many options as possible to move money across the globe with sound efficiency. Whether a customer is using the app and instigating a transaction online or at one of their retail locations, Western Union wants to make it easy and convenient for the recipient to receive funds.
In terms of the future, Western Union maintains an extremely optimistic outlook by using state-of-the-art data analytics and AI tools. The company continues to grow its market share by maintaining an acute focus on enhancing its customer experience to drive even more revenue and growth in the global digital remittance market.