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Settlement Assets and Obligations | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract] |
Settlement Assets and Obligations | 7. Settlement Assets and Obligations Settlement assets represent funds received or to be received from agents and others for unsettled money transfers, money orders, and consumer payments. The Company records corresponding settlement obligations relating to amounts payable under money transfers, money orders, and consumer payment service arrangements. As of December 31, 2022, settlement assets and obligations also included amounts receivable from, and payable to, customers for the value of their cross-currency payment transactions related to the Business Solutions segment. Settlement assets and obligations consisted of the following (in millions):
|  | December 31, 2023 |
Settlement assets: |  |  |
Cash and cash equivalents |  | $ | 496.0 |
Receivables from agents and others |  |  | 1,748.3 |
Less: Allowance for credit losses |  |  | (15.4 | )
Receivables from agents and others, net |  |  | 1,732.9 |
Investment securities |  |  | 1,458.2 |
Less: Allowance for credit losses |  |  | (0.1 | )
Investment securities, net |  |  | 1,458.1 |
Total settlement assets |  | $ | 3,687.0 |
Settlement obligations: |  |  |
Money transfer, money order, and payment service payables |  | $ | 2,764.5 |
Payables to agents |  |  | 922.5 |
Total settlement obligations |  | $ | 3,687.0 |
|  | December 31, 2022 |
Settlement assets: |  |  |
Cash and cash equivalents |  | $ | 708.1 |
Receivables from agents, Business Solutions customers, and others |  |  | 1,533.2 |
Less: Allowance for credit losses |  |  | (13.0 | )
Receivables from agents, Business Solutions customers, and others, net |  |  | 1,520.2 |
Investment securities |  |  | 1,333.7 |
Less: Allowance for credit losses |  |  | (0.3 | )
Investment securities, net |  |  | 1,333.4 |
Total settlement assets(a) |  | $ | 3,561.7 |
Settlement obligations: |  |  |
Money transfer, money order, and payment service payables |  | $ | 2,843.3 |
Payables to agents |  |  | 718.4 |
Total settlement obligations(a) |  | $ | 3,561.7 |
(a) As of December 31, 2022, both Settlement assets and Settlement obligations include $74.9 million, classified as Assets held for sale and Liabilities associated with assets held for sale (see Note 4). Allowance for Credit Losses Receivables from agents and others primarily represent funds collected by such agents, but in transit to the Company, and were $1,732.9 million and $1,508.5 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Cash received by Western Union agents generally becomes available to the Company within one week after initial receipt by the agent. Western Union has a large and diverse agent base, thereby reducing the credit risk of the Company from any one agent. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its agents’ financial condition and credit worthiness. Receivables from Business Solutions customers arose from cross-currency payment transactions in the Business Solutions segment. Business Solutions receivables totaled $11.7 million as of December 31, 2022. Receivables occurred when funds were paid out to a beneficiary but were not yet received. The Company establishes and monitors an allowance for credit losses related to receivables from agents and others. The Company has estimated the allowance based on its historical collections experience, adjusted for current conditions and forecasts of future economic conditions based on information known as of December 31, 2023. The following tables summarize the activity in the allowance for credit losses on receivables from agents and others, and Business Solutions customers (in millions):
|  | Agents and |  |  | Business Solutions |
|  | Others |  |  | Customers |
Allowance for credit losses as of January 1, 2023 |  | $ | 11.4 |  |  | $ | 1.6 |
Current period provision for expected credit losses(a) |  |  | 19.4 |  |  |  | 1.4 |
Write-offs charged against the allowance |  |  | (27.3 | ) |  |  | (3.1 | )
Recoveries of amounts previously written off |  |  | 13.9 |  |  |  | — |
Impacts of foreign currency exchange rates, divestitures, and other |  |  | (2.0 | ) |  |  | 0.1 |
Allowance for credit losses as of December 31, 2023 |  | $ | 15.4 |  |  | $ | — |
|  | Agents and |  |  | Business Solutions |
|  | Others |  |  | Customers |
Allowance for credit losses as of January 1, 2022 |  | $ | 18.0 |  |  | $ | 5.7 |
Current period provision for expected credit losses(a) |  |  | 14.1 |  |  |  | 3.8 |
Write-offs charged against the allowance |  |  | (20.9 | ) |  |  | (1.5 | )
Recoveries of amounts previously written off |  |  | 4.7 |  |  |  | — |
Impacts of foreign currency exchange rates, divestitures, and other |  |  | (4.5 | ) |  |  | (6.4 | )
Allowance for credit losses as of December 31, 2022 |  | $ | 11.4 |  |  | $ | 1.6 |
|  | Agents and |  |  | Business Solutions |
|  | Others |  |  | Customers |
Allowance for credit losses as of January 1, 2021 |  | $ | 49.3 |  |  | $ | 3.9 |
Current period provision for expected credit losses(a) |  |  | 8.9 |  |  |  | 4.2 |
Write-offs charged against the allowance |  |  | (44.8 | ) |  |  | (2.1 | )
Recoveries of amounts previously written off |  |  | 6.8 |  |  |  | — |
Impacts of foreign currency exchange rates and other |  |  | (2.2 | ) |  |  | (0.3 | )
Allowance for credit losses as of December 31, 2021 |  | $ | 18.0 |  |  | $ | 5.7 |
(a) Provision does not include losses from chargebacks or fraud associated with transactions initiated through the Company’s digital channels, as these losses are not credit-related. The Company recognized losses that were not credit-related of $42.2 million, $37.5 million, and $51.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. In addition, from time to time, the Company has made advances to its agents and disbursement partners. The Company often owes settlement funds payable to these agents that offset these advances. These amounts advanced to agents and disbursement partners are included within Other assets in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, amounts advanced to agents and disbursement partners were $188.5 million and $154.9 million, respectively, and the related allowances for credit losses were immaterial. Investment Securities Investment securities included in Settlement assets in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets consist primarily of highly-rated state and municipal debt securities, including fixed-rate term notes and variable-rate demand notes. Variable-rate demand note securities can be put (sold at par) typically on a daily basis with settlement periods ranging from the same day to one week but have varying maturities through 2052. These securities may be used by the Company for short-term liquidity needs and held for short periods of time. Investment securities are exposed to market risk due to changes in interest rates and credit risk. The Company is required to hold highly-rated, investment grade securities, and such investments are restricted to satisfy outstanding settlement obligations in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements. The Company’s investment securities are classified as available-for-sale and recorded at fair value. Western Union regularly monitors credit risk and attempts to mitigate its exposure by investing in highly-rated securities and through investment diversification. Unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities are excluded from earnings and presented as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of related deferred taxes. Available-for-sale securities with a fair value below the amortized cost basis are evaluated on an individual basis to determine whether the impairment is due to credit-related factors or noncredit-related factors. Factors that could indicate a credit loss exists include but are not limited to: (i) negative earnings performance, (ii) credit rating downgrades, or (iii) adverse changes in the regulatory or economic environment of the asset. Any impairment that is not credit-related is excluded from earnings and presented as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of related deferred taxes, unless the Company intends to sell the impaired security or it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before recovering its amortized cost basis. Credit-related impairments are recognized immediately as an adjustment to earnings, regardless of whether the Company has the ability or intent to hold the security to maturity, and are limited to the difference between fair value and the amortized cost basis. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, the Company’s allowance for credit losses and provision for credit losses on its available-for-sale securities were immaterial. The components of investment securities are as follows (in millions):
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Gross |  |  | Gross |  |  | Net |
|  | Amortized |  |  | Fair |  |  | Unrealized |  |  | Unrealized |  |  | Unrealized |
December 31, 2023 |  | Cost |  |  | Value |  |  | Gains |  |  | Losses |  |  | Gains/(Losses) |
Settlement assets: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash and cash equivalents: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Money market funds |  | $ | 11.8 |  |  | $ | 11.8 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
Available-for-sale securities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
State and municipal debt securities(a) |  |  | 1,049.3 |  |  |  | 1,011.4 |  |  |  | 8.7 |  |  |  | (46.6 | ) |  |  | (37.9 | )
Asset-backed securities |  |  | 194.5 |  |  |  | 195.7 |  |  |  | 1.2 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 1.2 |
Corporate debt securities |  |  | 155.2 |  |  |  | 152.2 |  |  |  | 1.5 |  |  |  | (4.5 | ) |  |  | (3.0 | )
State and municipal variable-rate demand notes |  |  | 86.8 |  |  |  | 86.8 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
United States government agency mortgage-backed securities |  |  | 12.6 |  |  |  | 12.1 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (0.5 | ) |  |  | (0.5 | )
Total available-for-sale securities |  |  | 1,498.4 |  |  |  | 1,458.2 |  |  |  | 11.4 |  |  |  | (51.6 | ) |  |  | (40.2 | )
Total investment securities |  | $ | 1,510.2 |  |  | $ | 1,470.0 |  |  | $ | 11.4 |  |  | $ | (51.6 | ) |  | $ | (40.2 | )
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Gross |  |  | Gross |  |  | Net |
|  | Amortized |  |  | Fair |  |  | Unrealized |  |  | Unrealized |  |  | Unrealized |
December 31, 2022 |  | Cost |  |  | Value |  |  | Gains |  |  | Losses |  |  | Gains/(Losses) |
Settlement assets: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash and cash equivalents: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Money market funds |  | $ | 11.7 |  |  | $ | 11.7 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
Available-for-sale securities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
State and municipal debt securities(a) |  |  | 1,010.5 |  |  |  | 933.3 |  |  |  | 0.3 |  |  |  | (77.5 | ) |  |  | (77.2 | )
Asset-backed securities |  |  | 183.4 |  |  |  | 184.1 |  |  |  | 0.8 |  |  |  | (0.1 | ) |  |  | 0.7 |
Corporate debt securities |  |  | 153.5 |  |  |  | 146.9 |  |  |  | 0.3 |  |  |  | (6.9 | ) |  |  | (6.6 | )
State and municipal variable-rate demand notes |  |  | 48.9 |  |  |  | 48.9 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
United States government agency mortgage-backed securities |  |  | 21.5 |  |  |  | 20.5 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (1.0 | ) |  |  | (1.0 | )
Total available-for-sale securities |  |  | 1,417.8 |  |  |  | 1,333.7 |  |  |  | 1.4 |  |  |  | (85.5 | ) |  |  | (84.1 | )
Total investment securities |  | $ | 1,429.5 |  |  | $ | 1,345.4 |  |  | $ | 1.4 |  |  | $ | (85.5 | ) |  | $ | (84.1 | )
(a) The majority of these securities are fixed-rate instruments. The following summarizes investment securities that were in an unrealized loss position as of December 31, 2023, by the length of time the securities were in a continuous loss position (in millions):
Less Than One Year |  | Number of Securities |  |  | Fair Value |  |  | Unrealized Losses |
State and municipal debt securities |  |  | 27 |  |  | $ | 84.6 |  |  | $ | (0.4 | )
One Year or Greater |  | Number of Securities |  |  | Fair Value |  |  | Unrealized Losses |
State and municipal debt securities |  |  | 267 |  |  | $ | 572.2 |  |  | $ | (46.2 | )
Corporate debt securities |  |  | 14 |  |  |  | 52.2 |  |  |  | (4.5 | )
United States government agency mortgage-backed securities |  |  | 10 |  |  |  | 11.5 |  |  |  | (0.5 | )
As noted above, the Company’s provision for credit losses on its investment securities for the year ended December 31, 2023 and the related allowance for credit losses as of December 31, 2023 were immaterial, as the unrealized losses were driven by a rise in U.S. Treasury interest rates. As of December 31, 2023, the Company did not intend to sell its securities in an unrealized loss position and did not expect it would be required to sell these securities prior to recovering their amortized cost basis. The following summarizes the contractual maturities of available-for-sale securities within Settlement assets as of December 31, 2023 (in millions):
|  | Fair Value |
Due within 1 year |  | $ | 99.7 |
Due after 1 year through 5 years |  |  | 606.0 |
Due after 5 years through 10 years |  |  | 395.5 |
Due after 10 years |  |  | 357.0 |
Total |  | $ | 1,458.2 |
Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or prepay the obligations, or the Company may have the right to put the obligation prior to its contractual maturity, as with variable-rate demand notes. Variable-rate demand notes, having a fair value of $86.8 million are included in the “Due after 10 years” category in the table above.

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