As part of an ongoing commitment to the communities they serve, Western Union, a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, and GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS), Western Union’s Agent in many Caribbean markets, announced the 2018 Town Hall series will take place from May 17 to 19, in New York and South Florida. Under the theme “The Caribbean Diaspora: In Pursuit of a Better Tomorrow…Today,” this will be the sixth free diaspora community gathering the companies have hosted together.
The keynote speaker for this year’s forum is the Honourable Orette Bruce Golding, former Prime Minister of Jamaica. Other speakers include Don Wehby, Group Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Ltd, Michelle Allen, Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Money Services, Rodrigo Garcia Estebarena, Western Union’s Vice President and General Manager for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and Andre Largie, Western Union’s Country Director for the Caribbean.
“We are very excited for this opportunity to engage once again with the Caribbean diaspora in the United States. These forums are very important not only to connect with our customers and receive their feedback, but also to discuss hot topics, such as consumer protection and how the diaspora can actively engage with and support fraud prevention initiatives,” said Allen. “The contribution of our customers is key, as we explore ways to continue developing and promoting the Caribbean, while improving the quality of life for those who live within the region.”
“For Western Union, customer centricity is a top priority and we are fully committed to improving services for our customers in each of the sending and receiving countries where we operate,” said Estebarena. “We believe the digitalization of our services, in collaboration with our Agents, has an important role to play, as demonstrated by the recent digital launches in the region, including the Westernunion.com/jm transactional website and the cash apps where customers can start a money transfer on the app and pay in cash at an Agent location in Jamaica and the Bahamas.
In 2017, more than US $80 billion was sent to Latin America and the Caribbean, according to World Bank’s latest Migration and Development Brief, making remittances an important resource for education, gifting, family support and small investments in the region.
GKMS has been Western Union’s Agent for almost three decades, and currently offers Western Union® Money Transfer services in: Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas.
The schedule for the GKMS and Western Union 2018 Town Hall Series is below. Each session will include a question and answer segment following the keynote speakers’ presentations.
The GKMS/Western Union Town Hall series commenced in 2012, with the aim of fostering engagement with customers in the primary sending markets of the Caribbean. To that end, Town Halls have been hosted in New York, Atlanta, Florida, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
