Western Union Launches Media Network Business Supported by User Data

Western Union has launched a media network business that lets companies advertise to its customers via company-owned channels like its website, mobile app and digital-out-of-home (DOOH) screen network as well as through audience extension.

These channels enable companies to reach a diverse, multicultural and global audience, the provider of cross-border, cross-currency money movement, payments and digital financial services said in a Monday (Nov. 11) press release.

“Our intimate knowledge and long-tenured relationships with our customers are unique differentiators and a driving force behind our new Media Network business,” Bob Rupczynski, chief marketing officer at Western Union, said in the release.

The new Western Union Media Network helps marketers improve ad efficiency by using Western Union’s data to enable advanced targeting, according to the release.

Because the company’s DOOH screens are in supermarkets, pharmacies, check cashing services, convenience stores, banks and financial services locations, they enable marketers to connect with consumers during their daily routines and when they are in a “commerce mindset,” the release said.

“We are excited to offer this opportunity to brands as an extension to their existing marketing efforts, providing a new way to actively engage with consumers, enhance brand affinity and unlock revenue,” Rupczynski said in the release. “And for our customers, I am proud that we are able to provide compelling offers from relevant brands in the channels they trust.”

Some other financial services companies have launched their own media networks in recent months.

It was reported in April that Chase got deeper into the world of retail media by adding a new Chase Media Solutions unit that will let advertisers target Chase customers with discounts and deals related to their spending history.

With this move, Chase joined other businesses that sell ad space on their apps, websites and other spaces, in many cases using shopper data to target messages and drive extra revenue.

In May, PayPal said it was developing an advertising sales business built on its user data, adding that it would create this ad network using data from user purchases as well as wider spending patterns from the millions of people using PayPal and Venmo.