Western Union is one of the world’s oldest financial services companies. Starting as a telecommunications company in the United States, the company then known as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company held a monopoly on the booming telegraph market for the latter half of the 1800s.
The company became Western Union in 1856 and remained a communications company for most of the early 1900s. It didn’t start offering money transfers until 1982. Today, Western Union is one of the largest money transfer platforms in the world, servicing over 200 countries and regions and offering transfers in over 130 currencies.
Western Union: History and timeline
1851: The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company is founded in Rochester, New York.
1856: The company merged with a competitor, the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company, and changed its name to the Western Union Telegraph Company.
1866: Western Union acquires its two main competitors, the American Telegraph Company and the United States Telegraph Company, and has a monopoly over the market.
Western Union launches the first stock ticker.
1877: Western Union’s wire money transfer service is launched.
1884: The stock market index for the New York Stock Exchanges (NYSE) is created, and Western Union is one of the 11 original companies included.
1900: By this time, Western Union is operating a million miles of telegraph lines and two international undersea cables.
1945-1960: The telegraph industry experiences a rapid decline, with telegraph messages almost halving during this period.
1958: Western Union begins offering telex services in New York.
1960: Western Union launches a limited direct international telex service to London and Paris.
1982: Due to financial services deregulation, Western Union begins offering wire money transfer services globally.
1984: Due to declining profits and growing debts, Western Union enters three years of restructuring. The company splits in two, with one half focusing on money transfers and the other focusing on communication assets.
2000: westernunion.com launches.
2006: Western Union officially stops offering its telegram transmission and delivery service.
2011: Western Union acquires Travelex’s Global Business Payments division for £606 million.
How much money does Western Union make?
According to Western Union’s most recent annual reports from 2021, the company had a net income of $805 million and revenue of $5.07 billion over that year. This is an increase in 2020’s numbers, where they reported a net income of $744 million and revenue of $4.835 billion.
The only time in the previous nine years the company reported a negative net income was in 2017, when results show a loss of $557 million, but it still reported revenue of $5.524 billion for that year.
How much of Western Union’s revenue is from digital products?
Western Union was started in the 1800s, but a company doesn’t stay around this long without embracing digital innovation. It launched its website to the public during the dot-com boom in 2000, followed by several other innovations, such as the ability to pay by Apple Pay and its own mobile app.
The company has reported the growth of website transaction volume in its annual reports over the years. In annual reports from 2020 onwards, it further broke this down to show the growth of its digital money offerings.
Several acquisitions over the years have bolstered Western Union’s business segment, including Canada-based Custom House in May 2009 and Travelex’s Global Business Payments Division in 2011. However, the largest part of the company is still its consumer products.
Where in the world does Western Union’s revenue come from?
While Western Union was launched in the United States, it has an increasingly growing presence in Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which now make up a third of its business. The revenue split by region has not changed much since 2018.
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Elizabeth Barry is lead editor for Finder's global financial niches which includes banking, crypto and investments. She has written about finance for 10 years and is regularly featured in a range of publications and media including Seven News, the ABC, MSN, the Irish Times and Singapore Business Review.
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From bank transfers to specialist money transfer companies, there are several options available when you need to transfer money overseas from your bank account.
If you need to transfer money overseas using your credit card, you can do so via your bank, MoneyGram, Western Union and PayPal. This can be useful in emergency situations, but credit card transfers are usually not a cost-effective option.
If you’re looking for a secure way to send money overseas, an international bank draft could be for you — but if speed is important, consider using a money transfer service instead.
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