Western Union uses card issuing for financial inclusion

Western Union is an iconic company founded over 170 years ago, originally focused on the telegraphy industry, and eventually evolving into the money transfer business. Today, Western Union provides trusted money-moving services for customers around the world. Western Union’s mission is to provide financial services to aspiring populations which includes people who have moved countries in search of opportunities to support themselves and their families. 

A key part of this mission is Western Union’s hope to move beyond merely a transactional relationship with their customers, but rather to be able to provide them with an ecosystem of financial services, including digital banking and digital wallets. By using Marqeta’s platform, Western Union has been able to manage their complex payment card issuing and processing workflows and get real-time insights into their customers’ card activity. 

“We have seen Marqeta be the trusted advisor for us on not just issuing the card, but doing the card processing and the card management,” says Tom Mazzaferro, Chief Data and Innovation Officer at Western Union. “Compared to other platforms that required us to do large-scale coding, required us to take well over six months to a year to go to market, Marqeta helped us do that in less than six months.” 

Want to see the partnership in action?  You can see the full video here to learn how Marqeta and Western Union are growing the financial ecosystem with card issuing and card management, including disputes, fraud prevention, and more.