Western Union Pursues AI as Falling Migration Hits Revenue
Western Union is sharpening its focus on digital and artificial intelligence as it faces unexpected headwinds, executives said Thursday (July 30).
The company did not see the improvement in its Americas retail business that it expected in the second quarter, and a delay in its planned acquisition of Intermex pushed out the anticipated synergies from that deal, Western Union President and CEO Devin McGranahan said in a Thursday earnings release.
Western Union’s second quarter revenue declined 1% year over year to $1 billion, largely due to the slowdown in its Americas retail business, according to the release.
During a Thursday earnings call, McGranahan attributed the slowdown to changes in immigration policy.
“When migration goes negative, like we have seen in the U.S. and around parts of the Latin American region, it becomes difficult to replace customers that migrate to digital channels, find alternative options or leave the country to go home,” McGranahan said.
The company’s planned acquisition of Intermex, which was announced in August 2025, remains in discussions with regulators, including the New York Department of Financial Services. It was reported in May that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked the New York Department of Financial Services to block the deal, saying it would strain the economic circumstances of the city’s immigrant communities.
McGranahan said during Thursday’s earnings call: “We remain actively engaged in discussions with regulators on the final approval. I remain optimistic that we will be able to obtain the outstanding approval needed.”
In response to the challenges Western Union faced in the second quarter, the company is accelerating reductions in its operating expenses and continuing to invest in its digital products and consumer services businesses, McGranahan said in the earnings release.
Western Union aims to reduce by 20% discretionary operations and technology work that is not directly tied to growing digital, eliminate manual operations and reduce friction by accelerating its adoption of AI, and reduce the costs of moving money, according to a presentation released Thursday.
“We have ramped up our adoption of AI and other automation platforms significantly over the past six months, and we see meaningful opportunity to eliminate manual work and reduce the friction that results from our large geographically dispersed and highly regulated business,” McGranahan said during the call.
