Western Union Business Services sees ‘immense’ potential for expansion in Asia

Despite being 167 years old and spanning the globe with outposts in most countries, Western Union thinks of itself as a fintech company, according to the top executive of its corporate solutions unit in Asia.

Svend Janssen, the head of Asia for Western Union Business Solutions, said the company is developing new technology as it seeks to innovate and better serve clients ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations for business-to-business payments, cash management and risk management services.

The business solutions unit, while not as old or well known as its retail money transfer business, is growing at a double-digit rate in Asia and the potential to expand in the region is “immense”, Janssen said.

“It is interesting to see this business gets increasingly attractive to more players,” Janssen said. “It’s a confirmation that more people see the opportunity to compete in the classic client and banking relationship, when it comes to corporate, international and cross-border payments. Of course, technology makes it easier for new entrants to enter.”

In the first half of 2018, nearly US$58 billion was invested in fintech firms globally, including US$14 billion by Chinese payments firm Ant Financial Services Group in June, according to a recent report by KPMG.

In 2014, Ant, which is privately held, was spun out of Alibaba Group, the parent company of the S outh China Morning Post. Ant tried to acquire Moneygram, a US competitor to Western Union on the money transfer side, but was blocked by US officials in January on national security concerns.