Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Principles of Consolidation

The Company consolidates financial results when it has a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary via voting rights or when it has both the power to direct the activities of an entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the ability to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the entity that could potentially be significant to the entity. The Company utilizes the equity method of accounting when it is able to exercise significant influence over an entity’s operations, which generally occurs when the Company has an ownership interest between 20% and 50%.

Earnings Per Share

The calculation of basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. Outstanding options to purchase Western Union stock and unvested shares of restricted stock are excluded from basic shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if outstanding stock options at the presented dates are exercised and shares of restricted stock have vested, using the treasury stock method. The treasury stock method assumes proceeds from the exercise price of stock options and the unamortized compensation expense of options and restricted stock are available to acquire shares at an average market price throughout the period, and therefore, reduce the dilutive effect.

Shares excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation were 9.7 million, 8.0 million, and 2.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. The effect of these shares was anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method, as assumed proceeds of the options and restricted stock per unit were above the Company’s average share price during the periods.

The following table provides the calculation of diluted weighted-average shares outstanding (in millions):


	Year Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Basic weighted-average shares outstanding		370.8		387.2		406.8
Common stock equivalents		1.0		1.2		2.1
Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding		371.8		388.4		408.9

Fair Value Measurements

The Company determines the fair values of its assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in accordance with the hierarchy described below. The following three levels of inputs may be used to measure fair value:

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Level 1 - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

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Level 2 - Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities. For most of these assets, the Company utilizes pricing services that use multiple prices as inputs to determine daily market values.

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Level 3 - Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. Level 3 assets and liabilities include items where the determination of fair value requires significant management judgment or estimation. The Company holds assets classified as Level 3 that are recognized and disclosed at fair value on a non-recurring basis related to the Company’s business combinations, where the values of the intangible assets and goodwill acquired in a purchase are derived utilizing one of the three recognized approaches: the market approach, the income approach, or the cost approach.

Carrying amounts for many of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, settlement cash and cash equivalents, and settlement receivables and settlement obligations approximate fair value due to their short maturities. Available-for-sale investment securities, as further discussed in Notes 7 and 8, and derivative financial instruments, as further discussed in Notes 8 and 14, are carried at fair value. Fixed-rate notes are carried at their original issuance values and adjusted over time to amortize or accrete that value to par. The fair values of fixed-rate notes are disclosed in Note 8 and are based on market quotations.

The fair values of non-financial assets and liabilities related to the Company’s business combinations, as applicable, will be disclosed in Note 4.

Business Combinations

The Company accounts for all business combinations where control over another entity is obtained using the acquisition method of accounting, which requires that most assets (both tangible and intangible), liabilities (including contingent consideration), and remaining noncontrolling interests be recognized at fair value at the date of acquisition. The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of assets less liabilities and noncontrolling interests is recognized as goodwill. Certain adjustments to the assessed fair values of the assets, liabilities, or noncontrolling interests made subsequent to the acquisition date, but within the measurement period, which is one year or less, are recorded as adjustments to goodwill. Any adjustments subsequent to the measurement period are recorded within Net income. Any cost or equity method interest that the Company holds in the acquired company prior to the acquisition is remeasured to fair value at acquisition with a resulting gain or loss recognized within Other expense, net for the difference between fair value and existing book value. Results of operations of the acquired company are included in the Company’s results from the date of the acquisition forward and include amortization expense arising from acquired intangible assets. The Company expenses all costs as incurred related to or involved with an acquisition in Selling, general, and administrative expenses.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Highly liquid investments (other than those included in settlement assets) with maturities of three months or less at the date of purchase (that are readily convertible to cash) are considered cash equivalents and are stated at cost, which approximates fair value.

The Company maintains cash and cash equivalent balances, which may include a portion in money market funds, with a group of globally diversified banks and financial institutions. The Company limits the concentration of its cash and cash equivalents with any one institution and regularly reviews investment concentrations and credit worthiness of these institutions.

Allowance for Credit Losses

For the Company’s accounting policies with respect to the allowance for credit losses, refer to Note 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. The Company has included the settlement assets and obligations related to the Business Solutions segment in the Assets held for sale and Liabilities associated with assets held for sale lines, respectively, of the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2022.

Settlement assets consist of cash and cash equivalents, receivables from agents and others, and investment securities. Cash received by Western Union agents generally becomes available to the Company within one week after initial receipt by the agent. Cash equivalents consist of short-term time deposits, commercial paper, and other highly liquid investments. Receivables from agents represent funds collected by such agents, but in transit to the Company. Western Union has a large and diverse agent base, thereby reducing the Company’s credit risk 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. Receivables occurred when funds were paid out to a beneficiary but were not yet received from the customer.

Settlement obligations consist of money transfer, money order and payment service payables, and payables to agents. Money transfer payables represent amounts to be paid to transferees when they request their funds. Most agents typically settle with transferees first and then obtain reimbursement from the Company. Money order payables represent amounts not yet presented for payment. Payment service payables represent amounts to be paid to utility companies, auto finance companies, mortgage servicers, financial service providers, government agencies, and others. Due to the agent funding and settlement process, payables to agents represent amounts due to agents for money transfers that have been settled with transferees.

Refer to Note 7 for additional details on the Company’s settlement assets and obligations.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the lesser of the estimated life of the related assets (generally three to seven years for equipment and furniture and fixtures) or the lease term. Maintenance and repairs, which do not extend the useful life of the respective assets, are charged to expense as incurred.

Property and equipment consisted of the following (in millions):


	December 31,
	2023			2022
Equipment	$	373.4		$	464.6
Leasehold improvements		121.6			120.1
Furniture and fixtures		35.2			37.5
Projects in process		—			1.9
Total property and equipment, gross		530.2			624.1
Less accumulated depreciation		(438.8	)		(513.8	)
Property and equipment, net(a)	$	91.4		$	110.3

(a)

As of December 31, 2022, Property and equipment, net included Assets held for sale of $0.7 million, which consisted of property and equipment of the Company’s Business Solutions business, as further described in Note 4.

Amounts charged to expense for depreciation of property and equipment were $39.1 million, $42.7 million, and $49.6 million during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over the fair value of tangible and other intangible assets acquired less liabilities assumed, arising from business combinations. In the event a reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value, the Company recognizes an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value. The Company’s annual impairment assessment did not identify any goodwill impairment during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021.

Other Intangible Assets

Other intangible assets primarily consist of contract costs (primarily amounts paid to agents in connection with establishing and renewing long-term contracts), software, and acquired contracts. Other intangible assets are generally amortized on a straight-line basis over the length of the contract or benefit period. Included in the Consolidated Statements of Income is amortization expense of $144.5 million, $141.1 million, and $158.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

The Company purchases and develops software that is used in providing services and in performing administrative functions. For developed software, the Company capitalizes the eligible costs (predominantly detailed design, development, and testing) incurred during the application development stage, and all other costs are expensed as incurred. Once the software is ready for its intended use, software development costs and purchased software are generally amortized over a term of three to seven years.

The Company capitalizes initial payments for new and renewed agent contracts to the extent recoverable through future operations or penalties in the case of early termination. The Company’s accounting policy is to limit the amount of capitalized costs for a given contract to the lesser of the estimated future cash flows from the contract or the termination fees the Company would receive in the event of early termination of the contract.

Acquired contracts include customer and contractual relationships and networks of subagents that are recognized in connection with the Company’s acquisitions.

The following table provides the components of other intangible assets (in millions):


	December 31, 2023					December 31, 2022
	Weighted-
	Average
	Amortization			Net of				Net of
	Period	Initial		Accumulated		Initial		Accumulated
	(in years)	Cost		Amortization		Cost		Amortization
Capitalized contract costs	5.9	$	469.7	$	166.4	$	524.4	$	252.8
Internal use software	4.4		443.6		166.0		387.8		155.3
Acquired contracts	11.8		66.6		0.3		87.4		3.0
Acquired trademarks	25.4		30.1		8.4		30.2		9.6
Other intangibles	4.4		17.4		0.4		17.0		—
Projects in process	(a)		38.7		38.7		38.6		38.6
Total other intangible assets(b)	6.2	$	1,066.1	$	380.2	$	1,085.4	$	459.3

(a)

Not applicable as the assets have not been placed in service.

(b)

Total other intangible assets, net includes Assets held for sale of $1.4 million as of December 31, 2022, which consists of Other intangible assets associated with the Company’s Business Solutions business as further described in Note 4.

The estimated future aggregate amortization expense for existing other intangible assets as of December 31, 2023 is expected to be $137.2 million in 2024, $90.5 million in 2025, $53.6 million in 2026, $36.0 million in 2027, $8.8 million in 2028, and $15.4 million thereafter.

Other intangible assets are reviewed for impairment on an annual basis or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable. In such reviews, estimated undiscounted cash flows associated with these assets or operations are compared with their carrying values to determine if a write-down to fair value (normally measured by the present value technique) is required. The Company recorded approximately $9 million of impairments related to other intangible assets during the year ended December 31, 2023 and recorded immaterial impairments related to other intangible assets during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Other Investments

Other investments consist of equity investments in privately-held companies that do not have readily determinable fair values. For these investments, the Company has less than a 20% interest and does not have control or significant influence. The Company has elected to measure these investments at cost less any impairment, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment in the same issuer. These investments are reflected in Other assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. The Company has not recorded any material annual or cumulative impairment losses or valuation adjustments based on observable price changes.

Revenue Recognition

For the Company’s accounting policies with respect to revenue recognition, refer to Note 3.

Cost of Services

Cost of services primarily consists of agent commissions and expenses for call centers, settlement operations, and related information technology costs. Expenses within these functions include personnel, software, equipment, telecommunications, bank fees, credit losses, depreciation, amortization, and other expenses incurred in connection with providing money transfer and other payment services.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are charged to operating expenses as incurred. Advertising costs for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 were $186.7 million, $195.4 million, and $177.8 million, respectively.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under the liability method, which requires that deferred tax assets and liabilities be determined based on the expected future income tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the consolidated financial statements. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect in the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. The Company routinely assesses the realizability of its deferred tax assets. A valuation allowance must be established when, based upon available evidence, it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

The Company recognizes the tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only when it is more likely than not, based on the technical merits of the position, that the tax position will be sustained upon examination, including the resolution of any related appeals or litigation. The tax benefits recognized in the consolidated financial statements from such a position are measured as the largest benefit that has a greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate resolution.

The Company accounts for the effects of global intangible low-taxed income taxed in the United States as a component of income tax expense in the period the tax arises.

Foreign Currency Translation

The United States dollar is the functional currency for substantially all of the Company’s businesses. Revenues and expenses are generally translated at average exchange rates prevailing during the period. Foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities for those businesses for which the local currency is the functional currency are translated into United States dollars based on exchange rates at the end of the year. The effects of foreign exchange gains and losses arising from the translation of assets and liabilities of these businesses are included as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss (“AOCL”) in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Foreign currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities of businesses for which the United States dollar is the functional currency are remeasured based on exchange rates at the end of the period, and the resulting remeasurement gains and losses are recognized in net income. Non-monetary assets and liabilities of these operations are remeasured at historical rates in effect when the asset was recognized or the liability was incurred.

The Company has bill payment and other businesses in Argentina for which the local currency is the functional currency. However, as Argentina is currently classified as a highly inflationary economy, all changes in the value of the Argentine peso on these businesses’ monetary assets and liabilities are reflected in net income.

Derivatives

The Company has used derivatives to minimize its exposures related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and, periodically, interest rates. The Company recognizes all derivatives in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at their fair value. All cash flows associated with derivatives are included in Cash flows from operating activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Certain of the Company’s derivative arrangements are designated as cash flow hedges at the time of inception, and others are not designated as accounting hedges.

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Cash flow hedges – Cash flow hedges consist of foreign currency hedging of forecasted revenues, as well as hedges of the forecasted issuance of fixed-rate debt. Derivative fair value changes that are captured in AOCL are reclassified to earnings in the same period the hedged item affects earnings when the instrument is effective in offsetting the change in cash flows attributable to the risk being hedged. The Company excludes time value from the assessment of effectiveness, and the initial value of the excluded components in the Company’s foreign currency cash flow hedges is amortized into Revenues within the Consolidated Statements of Income.

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Undesignated - Derivative contracts entered into to reduce the foreign exchange variability related to: (i) money transfer settlement assets and obligations, generally with maturities from a few days up to one month, and (ii) certain foreign currency denominated cash and other asset and liability positions, typically with maturities of less than one year at inception, are not designated as hedges for accounting purposes, and changes in their fair value are included in Selling, general, and administrative. The Company aggregated its Business Solutions payments foreign currency exposures arising from customer contracts, including the derivative contracts described above, and hedged the resulting net currency risks by entering into offsetting contracts with Convera through the final closing of the Business Solutions divestiture on July 1, 2023. The derivatives written were part of the broader portfolio of foreign currency positions arising from the Company’s cross-currency payment operations, which primarily included spot exchanges of currency in addition to forwards and options. The changes in the fair value related to these contracts were recorded in Revenues.

The fair value of the Company’s derivatives is derived from standardized models that use market-based inputs (e.g., forward prices for foreign currency).

The details of each designated hedging relationship must be formally documented at the inception of the arrangement, including the risk management objective, hedging strategy, hedged item, specific risks being hedged, the derivative instrument, and how effectiveness is being assessed. The derivative must be highly effective in offsetting the changes in cash flows of the hedged item, and effectiveness is evaluated quarterly on a retrospective and prospective basis.

Legal Contingencies

The Company is a party to certain legal and regulatory proceedings with respect to a variety of matters. The Company records an accrual for these contingencies to the extent that a loss is both probable and reasonably estimable. If some amount within a range of loss is determined to be a better estimate than other amounts within the range, that amount is accrued. When no amount within a range of loss is determined to be a better estimate than any other amount, the lowest amount in the range is accrued.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has a stock-based compensation plan that provides for grants of Western Union stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, and deferred stock units to employees and non-employee directors of the Company.

All stock-based compensation to employees is required to be measured at fair value and expensed over the requisite service period. The Company generally recognizes compensation expense on awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period with an estimate for forfeitures. Refer to Note 16 for additional discussion regarding details of the Company’s stock-based compensation plans.

Severance and Other Related Expenses

The Company records severance-related expenses once they are both probable and estimable in accordance with the provisions of the applicable accounting guidance for severance provided under an ongoing benefit arrangement. One-time involuntary benefit arrangements and other costs are generally recognized when the liability is incurred. The Company

also evaluates impairment issues associated with restructuring and other activities when the carrying amount of the related assets may not be fully recoverable, in accordance with the appropriate accounting guidance.

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a new accounting pronouncement regarding segment reporting. The standard requires that public entities expand reportable segment disclosures, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. The Company is required to adopt the new standard for its 2024 annual reporting and effective January 1, 2025 for its interim reporting, using a retrospective approach. Management is currently evaluating the potential impact that the adoption of this standard will have on the Company’s disclosures.

In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a new accounting pronouncement regarding income tax disclosures. The standard requires that public entities disclose more consistent and detailed categories in their statutory to effective income tax rate reconciliations and further disaggregate income taxes paid by jurisdiction. The Company is required to adopt the new standard for its 2025 annual reporting, using a prospective approach. Management is currently evaluating the potential impact that the adoption of this standard will have on the Company’s disclosures.