Western Union is an American multinational financial services company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and its executives include Jean Claude Farah, Raj Agrawal, Hikmet Ersek, Richard Williams, and Tyler Hand. The company facilitates the transfer of money within and outside the country. In short, it acts as an agent of transferring funds between banks and credit unions. But how much does Western Union charge to send money? We shall see the fees the company charges per transfer shortly.
In this era, digital money transfer has hit the financial market with a storm. People can send money within minutes across the world. The traditional ways of sending funds, such as checks and money orders, are left just for fun. And by the way, you need a smartphone to effect such a transfer. Computers and tablets can assist you in the process, although smartphones are more convenient.
Western Union and other digital money transfer companies require you to open your account online. There are a few requirements for opening your account, as we shall see shortly. The most important requirement is your identification document. We have various identification documents, including federal/state ID, driver’s license from any country, or passport. You have to identify yourself to prevent fraudulent individuals from opening accounts and doing illegal transactions.
The Method To Open A Western Union Account
To send money through Western Union online, one only needs to create their profile, verify their email address, and verify their ID. To open an online account, they must have an internet-enabled device. It is always advisable to use personal devices as public ones can expose your details, leading to loss of money. To open a Western Union profile, you can follow the process below.
- Visit the Sign-Up page to get started
- Enter your email address
- Click the verification email sent to your inbox to verify the email.
- Verify your ID by visiting the nearest NEC agent.
- After that, you can follow any other directives to have your account running.
Once your account starts to operate, you can send or receive money in two minutes. One can transfer money to over 500,000 agent locations. Interestingly, the company operates in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe.
Receive Money Process On Western Union
Before receiving funds from another person, you need to know their method to send the funds. If they send cash, visit the nearest agent location and go with your government-issued ID plus the MTCN tracking number (Money Transfer Control Number) from the sender. After the agent verifies the transfer, you then receive your funds. You can also check the transfer status at the global tracking service.
If the sender loaded your prepaid card, you can log into your card account online to see if the transfer reflects. You can also call the number at the back of your card and ask if the funds are available.
Additionally, you can receive money in your bank account or even your mobile wallet. You can always confirm if the services are available at your place. Receiving money in your bank account is convenient as you can do various transactions.
Again, it shows how easy it is to use Western Union to transfer money from a debit card to a bank account. Remember I mentioned that you could use a debit or credit card to fund your transfer.
Bank Details You Need To Provide To Send Money Via Western Union
Requirements change from one country to another. A country like Azerbaijan requires you to provide the IBAN and the reason for transferring the money. Australia requires Bank/State/Branch (BSB) account number while Austria, Estonia, France, and Finland require only the IBAN.
Almost all countries require you to provide the International Bank Account Number (IBAN). You may also need to provide other recipient details to ensure that the funds reach the right person. You can check the requirements in your country online to be sure before going for any transfer.
Fees That Western Union Charge To Send Money
The company charges various fees depending on the service offered. There are four types of fees that you can pay for using Western Union. Various factors determine the fees, including your bank, whether the transaction is domestic or international, and whether there are charges from an intermediary bank.
The following are some of the fees you can pay.
i) Transfer fees
Transfer fees may be sending or receiving fees. Various financial companies charge various fees for every transfer. For example, the Bank of America and Wells Fargo charges up to $30 per transfer, while Citi charges $25 and Chase charges $35. Currently, Western Union charge to send money is no fees.
ii) Intermediary bank fees
A need to use a third-party bank to facilitate a transfer process may arise. Usually, these are banks and are called intermediary banks. They may charge fees for the services offered. Therefore, you may end up paying the intermediary bank fees on top of the bank charges.
iii) Exchange rate
When doing an international transfer, you will need to convert one currency to another. Even though the exchange rate is not a fee, it is a cost any sender should consider.
iv) Other fees
There may be other fees charged by banks and other financial companies, such as cancellation fees, in-person transfer fees, and correspondent bank fees. You should be keen to note that. Always ask for a quote of the total fees before initiating any transfer.
Tips To Avoid Western Union Fees
Fees can shake your financial capability, especially if you use the service frequently. However, there are ways you can avoid fees and save big. They include the following:
i) Research on the best transfer option
There are transfer options that can cost less compared to others. Remember that sending and receiving fees can be sent if you use banks. You can opt to transfer funds to the recipient’s mobile wallet other than their bank account.
Another cheap but lengthy transfer option is ACH transfer. The transfer method, i.e., online or at a location, may also determine the fees you have to pay.
ii) Shop around
Sometimes we think that international goods are better than locally made. We end up sending money to sellers abroad, thus incurring fees. You can buy from the local sellers and save the fees you could have used for international purchases.
Summing Up
Western Union is an American multinational financial company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company facilitates money transfers domestically and internationally. You can send money online using the platform’s website/app or use in-person transfers.
When sending funds, you can use your bank, debit, or credit card to fund your transfer. Banks usually charge sending and receiving fees which vary from one bank to the other.
