Closer Look at Western Union

A closer look at Western Union

Money-transfer giant Western Union is a lot like Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) -- more of a technology company than a financial company, but often lumped in with the latter. Its real value lies within the massive global network of processing locations that gives it a large moat against competition. In an industry where scale is the single most important factor, it's very difficult to compete with someone like Western Union.

When most people think of this company, remittances to Mexico come to mind. This exposure scares them silly because the jobless rate in the U.S. discourages immigration from Mexico, which should, logically, stifle business.  

But Mexico makes up just 7% of total revenue. For consumer-to-consumer transactions, which make up 85% of total revenue, business is fairly diverse:

Geographic diversity is a big plus in this economy. Having more robust areas such as India and China to fall back on as growth in the U.S. wanes is a lifesaver. Furthermore, more remote areas of the world don't have nearly the type of banking infrastructure that the U.S. does, making Western Union essential to their economies.