We Pride in providing world class service at right price

The remittance market globally is a growing industry driven largely by established and new migrants worldwide. In this industry, India is a impressive growth story, in fact the fastest growing market. Depreciation in Indian rupee is a major factor in fuelling this growth in remittances into India.

A vast population drawn from urban, semi-urban and rural areas,presents both internal and external money transfer opportunities. At the same time offering a mega challenge in both technological and logistical terms.

The key corridors for India are Middle East, North America and Europe. In India, remittances are mainly directed towards family maintenance and investments .Compared to inbound market the outbound market is small.

Hence the race among the financial players to capture a major space in the remittance market. Until liberalisation of the economy, this market was languishing for want of a better player because traditional Banks had failed to measure up to the changing matrix of challenges. Into this breach, some 20 years ago, stepped in a giant of the market.

Sensing an opportunity in a virgin and hitherto untapped and neglected market, Western Union (WU) quickly seized the moment and set up a vast and still growing network. Currently, Western Union has a worldwide market share of around 20%.

A good product and effective distribution network are the main drivers of Western Union’s business in India. WU’s strength lies in their vast network, simplicity, speed and safety which are operational in every corner of the world. Its partnership with India Post and State Bank of India has enabled it to penetrate deep into the rural areas of India.

A plethora of tie ups with financial institutions and agents has enabled WU to quickly capture a major share of the market, making it the fastest and most visible brand right across India.

Recently, Kiran Shetty, Managing Director of Western Union Services India Pvt Ltd was on an official visit to Sydney and took time out to speak with Indus Age.

HarnathSithamraju : Welcome to Sydney. Is this your first time to Australia? What do you hope to learn/gain from this trip?

KiranShetty :Thank you so much, I am really excited to be here. This is my first trip herethough I travel a lot for my work. The warmth that I have got here, makes me feel at home and certainly when I meet people I get charged up.

The main reason for my visit here is to increase business and awareness among Indian diaspora. We have around 234,000 Indian diaspora and are constantly exploring ways to see how we can become a brand of choice for them.

You know there has been a long standing perception that Western Union (WU) is expensive but when I look at rates of other providers here, we are very competitive both in terms of price and service. India is now the largest remittance market in the world.

We get about $70billion every year. There are three modes of getting money into the country 1. Bank channels 2. Online remittances and 3. Cash to cash basis.

We have been in India for 20 years and in these 20years we have built a distribution network of 114,000 locationswhich includes very reputed players like India Post, SBI, Reliance, Andhra Bank&Karnataka Bank.

Our brand awareness is very penetrative and committed. And during this period we have continued to grow.With over 320,000 Indians I can see accelerated growth in Australia.

We come with 160 years of experience and work in over 200 countries. We want to build a deeper bond with customer. That is really our agenda. And I think we are making great progress.

HS : The expansion of western union in India has been rapid. You now have over 113,000 agent locations. How has this come about? How is western union able to be so dominant in this field.

KS :That is a very interesting question. I mentioned that Western Union has been in India for 20years. When I look back, there was asituation when the customer/diaspora would leave India and go to another country.

He would leave his loved ones to make a better living for them by sacrificing his time with them and he did not have opportunity to send money back through formal channels and he would lose out on his money as well and in certain caseshe would end up in wrong hands.

When we entered the market and started operating a network, we were able to meet that need and were proud that we were able to connect with that person and help him transfer money.

It was a two way hit where we were able to service the economy and the economy appreciated and approached us to partner and that journey helped build a relationship with India Post which has great reputation in Indian community, which is trusted so much that even today when a daughter is to be married they talk with the local postman to check how is the boy.

So I feel great pride in the people that partnered with us in this journey. This sort of partnership has led us to where we are today. That helps us to be dominant and a leader in India.

HS: Western Union has always been seen as a premium brand due to its speed, convenience and global reach. The remittance landscape has become a lot more competitive especially within the Indian market, a market where price and value for money is key. How do you manage this balance?

KS :If we look at various reports that came out including World Bank, there is focus and stress onminimising cost of remittances and we need to understand that these are customers who are alone in an international country.

We have to be sensitive to their needs and offer them the products at a right price and at Western Union we share their vision and endeavour and take pride in providing world class service at right price. For a long time there was a wrong perception about our pricing.

I will encourage people to try our products and compare it with other players and you will find it very competitive. We are today a premium company not in terms of fee and charges, but in terms of compliance which we adhere to and is stronger. We have a superior distribution service.

HS : In Australia western union now offers the Direct to bank service to India. What else can we look forward to between Australia and India in the near future. Any new products or services to look forward too?

KS :As I said earlier there are three channels of remittances (1) Online (2) Cash segment (3) Banks. We used to operate in the cash segment. Very recently we plugged in the Bank channel and online channel.

We now have services originating from Australia into a Bank account in India. We have that online channel. If you look at thesuite of products we put together they are superior to what other players have to offer. We now have the services to offer all our customers.

HS: The western union foundation is an integral part of western union. Can you tell us more about the foundation especially what work has been done in India and any future projects planned?

KS :I am passionate about this. Western Union Foundation is a very great partner for us in our business. As a brand, we recognise that we have an obligation to the society and our mandate for our foundation has been for supporting education and alleviating poverty through education.

India is no exception. And in India, in the last few years,we have made significant investments amounting to $12 million.

There are some big names we partner with such as Pratham, Save the Children etc., where we have invested significantly in educating the underprivileged and under serviced. Also our agent partnersare very passionate about this. So we are very committed to that cause and will continue to work in that direction in India, Australia and everywhere. If we have an opportunity to alleviate poverty we will be keen about that.

HS : University of Canberra has contracted WU business solutions to provide a low cost method of paying fees to Univ of Canberra in your own currency. Do you think this can be rolled out in other countries as well?

KS :Yes.If you look at Western Union Business Solutions we have multiple University tie ups. One of the core areas is to partner with more and more Universities to facilitate student fees segments.

We have a lot of exclusive partnerships. That is one of the key focus areas and education as a segment for fee paymentis one area we will work on. More and more opportunities will come in that direction.

HS :Scamsters ask money to be transferred via WU because once the money is sent through, WU does not refund. What steps do you take to ensure you transfer money responsibly?

KS :Western Union is a 160year old brand operating in 200 countries.The reason we have survived this long are that we are a responsible brand and having said that it is very important that you recognise that we have made very significant investments in compliance.

We have a dedicated team that sits in US and tracks every transaction that passes through our system. We want to be industry leaders and monitor patterns that emerge as anti-business.

What I would like to emphasise is that there is no financial system that is not open to abuse and it is all about how you handle that in terms of a proactive approach. And I believe that Western Union is done that very successfully over the years and we will continue to invest more and more in our systems and technology to stay ahead of the game.

And we are confident that if we continue to do that we will survive another 160 years or more.