Talking reinvention at Forrester’s Digital Transformation and Innovation Forum

Top Trends By Deirdre Mueller May 17, 2019

Forrester's LogoAs a passionate change agent, our own Rebecca Loevenguth is impossible to ignore, and not just because of her title: VP of Forrester's TaglineTransformation (a role that speaks volumes about Western Union’s commitment to reinventing itself). She’s officially a force of nature and it was on full display on May 15 in Chicago where Rebecca was a featured speaker at Forrester’s Digital Transformation & Innovation Summit.

In a main-stage Q&A conversation, Rebecca shared perspective on our transformation strategy and collaboration with Amazon, a strategic relationship she has forged over the past two years.

As Forrester’s David Evans put it: “For incumbents in many industries, Amazon is the dreaded disruptor, the feared foe. But for Western Union, a burgeoning partnership with the mammoth retailer has paid dividends in two important dimensions. First, expanding and transforming key aspects of Western Union’s business model; second, in fundamentally altering the company’s technology strategy and speed to market.”

Telling the story behind our work with Amazon – culminating in the launch of PayCode, a new way for international customers to shop global and pay local – Rebecca gave the 800 summit attendees a first-hand look how we’ve learned from Amazon’s obsession with the customer experience. Attendees also got a new perspective on Western Union’s unique ability to connect the digital and physical worlds of money – and how we’re able to solve cross-border money movement challenges that are daunting even for giants like Amazon. 

The new payment option has been rolled out initially in 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with more on the way in 2019. The key insights from our journey: You can’t do digital transformation alone, and you can learn a lot by working with (rather than fearing) digitally native players.

Check out a video replay of the conversation here