Hatem Sleiman, Regional Vice President of Middle East, Pakistan, and Afghanistan at Western Union said that, “World Bank data tells us that in 2020, Kuwait moved USD17Bn in remittances. Even though outward remittances from Kuwait dropped approximately 8% in 2020 compared to 2019, the country still ranked amongst the global top 10 remittance sending countries – and has consistently done so over the last decade. This reaffirms the role Kuwait plays in the movement of money. Western Union figures show a double-digit growth in remittance flows in Kuwait, in 2021, compared to 2020. There was also an increase in the numbers of transactions during the same year. These increases are reflective of the extraordinary contributions the residents and citizens make to the world economy.”
When discussing the path towards building the digital economy as a collaborative approach between the public and private sector in Kuwait, Hatem said, “Collaboration enables companies to scale up, and others to access fresh thinking and new technology. In the ongoing debate over ‘build vs buy’, collaboration seems to be the new winner. It is a trend that I see accelerating over time, particularly in financial services and in Western Union, strategic collaboration is a natural evolution of our Agent model. Our years of collaborating and building a global network has left us well-versed in the art of working with Agent partners. In Kuwait, we offer a mix of digital and retail services through banks and exchange houses, providing more choice and convenience to customers to move money the way they prefer. This, of course, would not be possible without the support of our partners. We are proud to work with them, spurring inclusive innovation and financial inclusion through innovative collaborations.”
Regarding the company’s performance in Kuwait, Hatem confirmed that the company offer its services across more than 400 retail locations, on WU.com, our mobile app, and across its partners’ digital platforms who provide a mix of services across retail, digital and both. Western Union’s strong network capabilities in Kuwait, enables customers to send money into billions of bank accounts (including wallets and cards) in over 130 countries and territories, and to send money for cash pickup in over 200 countries and territories.
Hatem further added, “Western Union strives to support customers and their families as they accelerate their momentum up the economic ladder. We believe enabling financial opportunity is an important catalyst for advancing economic prosperity. Given many of our customers live outside the traditional financial systems in their respective countries, we seek to bring products and solutions tailored to their needs. To drive true global financial inclusion, it is important to deliver for our customers’ needs today and into the future. If we can empower people to send and receive money the way they prefer — whether it is online or in person, through bank accounts, cards, mobile wallets, or in cash — we can provide a vital link across societies and economies.”
Hatem stressed on the importance of financial inclusion and commented, “Lack of broadband internet access has often been cited as the primary reason for lack of financial inclusivity; a problem that has come under even greater scrutiny during country-wide lockdowns that followed the outbreak of Covid-19. As individual needs diversify and expand, strategic partnerships such as with telecom and financial services providers come into play. Only when we bridge the digital divide will we be able to bolster robust access to financial products and services, and be one step closer to creating a fairer, more equitable world for all.”
Regarding the challenges faced by the company in terms of infrastructure that has a direct impact on Kuwait''s vision to uplift its digital economy agenda, Western Union’s regional vice president highlighted that Western Union is committed to using products and services, digital and retail access points, and partnerships to drive financial inclusion and resilience for individuals, businesses, and organizations — thereby creating channels for long-term economic success. He further shed light on finding appropriate ways to include everyone in the global financial system, such as by pairing digital networks with retail cash networks, could help serve consumers at both ends of the send and receive spectrum better and more inclusively. Today, the company’s offerings across Asia in particular, are accessible in more than 270,000 Agent locations across the world.
Hatem then went on to express the company’s intention to deepen its digital capabilities and partnerships to reach more customers and enable them to connect to the digital economy. WU.com is currently available in over 75 countries and the Western Union app is available in over 55 countries. By the end of 2021, customers were also able to send funds in real time to billions of bank accounts, including millions of wallets and cards in over 100 countries. In India for example, a major outbound remittance corridor for Kuwait, Western Union was the first money transfer operator to offer cross-border payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India. This means that customers globally can send money into bank accounts and wallets in India by only using their receiver’s UPI identification, instead of providing bank account and routing details.
The company also discussed that Kuwait''s major outbound markets are similar to top receive markets as indicated by the World Bank and include the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, in addition to the company noting some intra-regional transfers to Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.
While discussing the Western Union’s vision over the next 5 years in Kuwait, Hatem noted that the pace of change in the remittance industry continues to accelerate. “As customer interactions and preferences accelerate toward digital, we will build on the core strength of our omnichannel network. We will continue to build new digital and retail partnerships with leading players in retail, telecom, and financial services - extending the reach and breadth of all of our platforms.“