CTO Straight Talk - Issue 1 - 62

Our CEO is a big believer in the promise
of data analytics-not only for our
business but also for how we address
social issues and effect positive change
for consumers worldwide.

and customer base. Our CEO is a big believer
in the promise of data analytics-not only for
our business but also for how we address
social issues and effect positive change for
consumers worldwide.
Western Union has been using data for a
long time for tasks like segmentation and for
insights into the propensities of individuals to
conduct specific kinds of transactions. We're
now taking it to the next level. We are focusing
on data complexity, large data sets from
multiple systems that are both structured
and unstructured. We are looking at legacy
systems integration and alignment with new
mobile and online capabilities.
We have a staff of data scientists who
are leveraging the power of data analytics
to identify the trends that will shape our
business moving forward. We see the
potential of predictive analytics for consumer
engagement and advanced data mining
for risk management. Such efforts can
support our decision cycles and contribute to
strategic business planning and, ultimately,
to delivering a consistent omnichannel
experience. In fact, our data is an integral part
of our customer-centric strategy.
Custome-centricity is at the heart of
everything we do, and it is driving our
transformation. We can use data to observe

behavioral changes in sending and receiving
and to deliver a customer experience tailored
to individual users across multiple channels
(retail, online, mobile, etc.).
Data can also help us see the economic
predictors and migration shifts that can help
shape business priorities, such as regional
expansion.
A lot of the data we have and are already
using is structured. We are using it to look
at customer segmentation and propensity
to buy. The new element we are bringing in
is unstructured data from web and mobile
transactions. We are trying to marry that
unstructured data to the structured data
in a Hadoop-based system so that we can
mine in a faster and more targeted fashion
to understand customer segments, buying
patterns, and preferred methods of payment.
For example, a given consumer will usually
perform certain types of transactions on the
same day of the month. We can drive that
analysis close to real time so that we can
provide the right offers at the right time.

Going Modular and Mobile
We have been trying to do smart things, so
we are making some strategic investments
in transformative technologies and business

CTO Straight Talk | 62
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CTO Straight Talk - Issue 1
