The company
Western Union is a global company that allows people to send money worldwide and pay bills online and in person.
I worked as a Senior Content Strategist at Western Union for over 5 years.
The project
The COVID-19 outbreak changed the way the world did business. Unfortunately, that meant that Western Union also had to change the way they served our customers.
With so many people unable to leave their homes, receivers could no longer pick up their money. As a result, many transfers were canceled, and people wondered how they would get the money they needed.
Western Union implemented a direct-to-bank transfer that both the sender and the receiver of a transaction (even one already in progress!) could initiate.
This bank-to-bank transfer helped customers receive their money amidst Western Union agent locations’ closings while following the stay-at-home orders that affected us all.
The challenges
The first challenge I encountered was that this was a high-priority ask.
The turnaround time was relatively short, as we needed to complete the copy, design, and implementation – the goal was to have it launched in two weeks.
I knew I needed to find a way to communicate a lot of information in a small space (see the blue and orange text boxes as an example).
For many customers, this would be the first time they’ve sent money digitally. Long-time customers used to getting cash in person now needed a way to get money in their bank accounts – and fast.
Initiating this change could be scary for some. So I needed to be sure users’ faith in the company didn’t waiver. I did this by using consistent and precise language that subtly points out how convenient it would be to change their delivery method.
An additional challenge was compliance, as we couldn’t let the receiver know why they couldn’t update their transfer – or even how they could fix any issues.
The strategy
While working closely with the UX designer and the product manager, we brainstormed how to implement this new send money option into our current send money flow.
I had to have consistent wording throughout – including the payment flow, emails, and text messages.
We held daily stand-ups where we marked our progress, discussed any roadblocks, and how we could make the best experience for our users.
The results
Western Union saw a record number of transactions, raising their digital transfers by about 39% in just a month!