environmental stewardship

As a leader in global money transfer, Western Union provides people with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send money around the world.

Our money transfer and payment services are available through a network of over 410,000 third-party money transfer agent locations in more than 200 countries and territories and thousands of bill payment agent locations in South America and the United States. In certain countries, our services are also available through the internet or by telephone.

Our agents provide the physical infrastructure and staffing through which we provide the majority of our services. Through our approximately 6,900 employees, we provide to our agents central operating functions such as transaction processing, settlement, marketing support and customer relationship management services. We conduct our operations primarily through office, call center and systems support facilities. As of December 31, 2008, we owned three such facilities and leased the remainder.

Due to the nature of our business, our services do not have a substantial impact on the environment and we believe they deliver environmental benefits in the course of everyday operation. For instance, we do not manufacture goods and accordingly do not produce waste or other by-products typically associated with manufacturing. Because our money transfer and payment services are performed and settled electronically, they generally do not depend on the use of shipping or other transportation systems that produce greenhouse emissions or consume large amounts of energy. Also, our more than 410,000 agent locations put our services in close proximity to many of our consumers, alleviating the need for most to travel long distances to complete their transactions, and thereby minimizing greenhouse emissions.

Although our services have relatively little environmental impact, Western Union is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of its operations.

Recently, we introduced the “Black and Gold Goes Green” program among our employees. “Black and Gold Goes Green” is a global initiative designed to showcase our commitment to go “green” by encouraging every employee to demonstrate that Western Union cares about the environmental impact we have as a company.

The WU Cares program follows three principals: reduce, recycle and reuse. The program currently has the following features, and we continue to evaluate additional opportunities that exist among our employees, vendors, agents and consumers.

Reduce

At our corporate headquarters:

• We use low-energy light bulbs that are recycled in accordance with EPA standards.
• Automatic water saving faucets and toilets have been installed.
• We provide bike parking, support an annual bike to work day and have locker room facilities to encourage employees to reduce greenhouse emissions by biking to work.

Company-wide:

• We have installed power tracking software on all computers.

Recycle

• We have a recycling program in place for glass, plastic, metal, cardboard, old computer equipment, and electrical and data cabling.
• In 2008, we recycled 138,000 pounds of office paper from our corporate headquarters.
• Toner cartridges for printers and copy machines are recycled.

Reuse

• At corporate headquarters, we use raw water for landscaping irrigation.
• Landscaping materials are recycled.
• For Earth Day 2009, we provided employees with reusable coffee cups.

Other Eco-Friendly Initiatives

• For Earth Day 2009, we funded the planting of one fruit tree in Haiti for every Western Union employee.
• We use water-based, low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint in our office facilities.