Western Union opened an AI led global capability centre in Hyderabad in January 2026, built in partnership with HCLTech. Western Union President and CEO Devin McGranahan and HCLTech CEO and Managing Director C. Vijayakumar inaugurated the centre together on January 27.
Western Union is one of the oldest names in cross border payments. It moves money for consumers and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories and in over 130 currencies, through a network that links billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and hundreds of thousands of retail agent locations. The company has been working to grow beyond remittances into a broader digital financial services business under what it calls its Beyond strategy.
What the centre will do
The Hyderabad centre is meant to speed up that shift. Its work covers next generation payments infrastructure, better digital experiences for customers, and a move to a platform based operating model. HCLTech brings its AI Force platform and engineering teams to the build, and the two companies want the site to strengthen Western Union’s engineering capability rather than simply cut costs.
The centre grew out of a strategic deal signed in March 2025 that made HCLTech Western Union’s top preferred technology partner. That agreement set out four tracks: modernising platforms and channels with cloud and AI tools, digital engineering for observability and automation, the platform operating model, and a larger technology presence in India. Neither company has disclosed a headcount for Hyderabad.
Why Hyderabad
Neither company gave a specific reason for the city, but Hyderabad has become the default destination for financial services centres. Banking, financial services and insurance account for about a third of capability centre activity in the city, ahead of technology and life sciences. Capability centres made up roughly 42% of all office leasing in Hyderabad in the first half of 2026, and the Telangana government has courted the sector hard.
Western Union’s India footprint
Hyderabad is Western Union’s second technology base in India. Its Technology Engineering Centre in Pune opened in 2018 and now employs more than 1,200 people across customer experience, compliance systems such as fraud and anti money laundering, and data engineering. The two sites are set to operate together as a global hub for technology, engineering and operations. India is also among the largest markets in the world for inbound remittances.
What it signals
The partnership model is worth watching. Instead of building a captive alone, Western Union has paired with a large Indian services firm to stand up AI capability quickly. For HCLTech, with more than 226,000 employees and about $14.5 billion in annual revenue, the deal shows how IT services firms are repositioning as partners that build and run centres for their clients.
At a glance
- Home country: United States
- Sector: Banking and Financial Services
- City: Hyderabad
- Date: January 2026
- Status: Operational
- Scale: AI led centre built with HCLTech; headcount not disclosed
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