Western Union

You have to present ID. And then they hit you with those endless questions about who sent the funds—as if that’s all they want. Honestly, it's pointless. Last year, I went through the whole ordeal at my local bank, the Post Office, and even tried Western Union; I handed over every single piece of data requested, and what was the result? Absolutely nothing. A total waste of time. Just garbage service. It happened all over again this year with MoneyGram, where I spent an entire hour at the bank being interrogated about every little detail, only for them to ultimately deny the transaction. I never even saw a cent through that channel. There simply isn't a legal way to do this without them demanding your ID.

Jack Chase2 said:Hey everyone, I have a quick question for the group... When you're picking up a transfer, specifically if it's a relatively small amount—something under $333—do they actually require you to show a driver's license or some kind of official ID? Or is it enough to just provide your full name and the transaction code?

Does anyone happen to know if there are any specific services for receiving payments where you don't have to deal with showing an ID at all?

Aircash. The sender just generates a code, and you use that code to grab the cash at a Chase ATM...

ironcyclist58 said:Aircash. The sender just generates a code, and you use that code to grab the cash at a Chase ATM...

Can you do that from abroad, too?
Though I imagine they charge quite a premium for that—doesn't it?
I'm curious about how they split the fees between the sender and the recipient.

They hit you with a 1% fee just to send it, then another 2% if you want to grab the cash from a Chase ATM. If you’re trying to pick it up at a newsstand or an ExxonMobil station, they’ll take 4%.

So, is that actually a viable way to receive funds from overseas?

Daniel Torres said:They hit you with a 1% fee just to send it, then another 2% if you want to grab the cash from a Chase ATM. If you’re trying to pick it up at a newsstand or an ExxonMobil station, they’ll take 4%.

The way I see it, nobody would bother with the transfer option because then the recipient needs an Aircash account too, which just drives the fees even higher. It’d be smarter to just aim for the Chase ATM withdrawal. But instead of picking it up yourself, you'd hand over the code to the recipient... though I'm not sure how much that code is worth once it's generated, or if they'd have to be standing right in front of the ATM the second it pops up...

ironcyclist58 said:Aircash. The sender just generates a code, and you use that code to grab the cash at a Chase ATM...

From what I can gather, you have to verify your profile using a driver's license.
So, what exactly are we even debating here?

I figured out a way to handle things so the recipient doesn't even need an Aircash account.

So, if someone's sending me cash from the States, how long does it actually take for the transfer to hit? My family sent some money over, but I guess it’s been stuck in "processing" mode for an entire day now.

Has anyone else dealt with this crap? And if you have, how long did it actually take for things to clear up?

Hey, does anyone know what the Western Union fee looks like for sending a small amount over to Canada?
I'm planning on using a Mastercard credit card to send it, so I'm just trying to figure out how much the commission will eat up...

https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/web/send-money/start

Thanks, but it looks like the fee is $3.00 just to send an amount like $667?

I mean, what is that fee actually covering if you don't count the Federal Reserve's involvement? It feels like a pretty small $3.00 fee to me...

I have a quick question here

1. Previously, Western Union online gave me the option to send Euros directly—but now? It’s forcing a conversion from Dollars at some ridiculous rate of 8.31—haha, absolutely not. There is no way I’m sending money at that laughable exchange rate—is there still a way to select Euro, or will they just be forced to switch back once we fully transition to the Euro—or whatever happens with our currency next?

2. Roughly how much does a Western Union branch charge if I want to send about $500?

James Harris said:Thanks, but it looks like the fee is $3.00 just to send an amount like $667?

I mean, what is that fee actually covering if you don't count the Federal Reserve's involvement? It feels like a pretty small $3.00 fee to me...

$3.00 though they’ll probably fleece you on the exchange rate—just read my previous post above.

This service is absolute garbage. It’s my first time ever using them, and right out of the gate, it’s a disaster. You fill out all your info in the app, but when you get to the address field, it demands a house number—except my official ID just lists it as "Bldg B." Because of that tiny technicality, they won't let me pick up my cash at a local branch, yet the app won't let me edit the address to fix the mistake...
I tried calling customer service, and since they only speak English, I had to struggle through explaining the whole mess with my thick accent. They actually had the nerve to tell me to send an email requesting an address change and to include some "mtsc" code at the end of the message to "speed things up," even though I don't even have one because I haven't completed a single transaction yet. Then, naturally, I get an email response telling me they aren't even allowed to change addresses...
Give me a break. 🤦

Hey, quick question—if I'm heading into a post office to pick up some money via Western Union, am I actually gonna need to show them my ID?

Jessica Morris6 said:This service is absolute garbage. It’s my first time ever using them, and right out of the gate, it’s a disaster. You fill out all your info in the app, but when you get to the address field, it demands a house number—except my official ID just lists it as "Bldg B." Because of that tiny technicality, they won't let me pick up my cash at a local branch, yet the app won't let me edit the address to fix the mistake...
I tried calling customer service, and since they only speak English, I had to struggle through explaining the whole mess with my thick accent. They actually had the nerve to tell me to send an email requesting an address change and to include some "mtsc" code at the end of the message to "speed things up," even though I don't even have one because I haven't completed a single transaction yet. Then, naturally, I get an email response telling me they aren't even allowed to change addresses...
Give me a break. 🤦

Too much drama. You can just fill out the form with a pen in person.

ironcyclist58 said:The way I see it, nobody would bother with the transfer option because then the recipient needs an Aircash account too, which just drives the fees even higher. It’d be smarter to just aim for the Chase ATM withdrawal. But instead of picking it up yourself, you'd hand over the code to the recipient... though I'm not sure how much that code is worth once it's generated, or if they'd have to be standing right in front of the ATM the second it pops up...

The generated code is only good for 30 minutes.
Using the Aircash Chase ATM option compared to Western Union online only makes sense if you're moving up to $200. Here’s why. 🙂
When sending from the US, for amounts up to $100, the fee is $1.90, and for anything over $100, it's a flat $3.90. At least, that’s what the estimate shows on their website and app.
Trying to pay through an agent at a physical location is a total waste because the fees are extortionate.

Example:
If I’m sending $900 from the US to Germany online, I pay $903.90. If I go through an agent, I’m paying $938.00 because the fee for that amount jumps to $38. That is a massive difference.
If I use Aircash to withdraw from a Chase ATM, I’m paying $918.00 (which is 2% of the total).

Bottom line: The Western Union way works fine, but strictly online via their site. Forget about doing it at a physical branch unless you absolutely have no other choice.

https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/fraud-awareness.html

Don't let scammers get the better of you.

Now that we’re back using the dollar, things have reverted to how they were five or six years ago—when transfers cost next to nothing because nobody was messing with exchange rates. Once they brought in that rule where they calculate everything based on their own internal rate, I stopped sending a single cent through them. Honestly, who would? If you're trying to send something like $500 or $600 and they skim $30 or $40 off the top via the exchange rate, that's just a straight-up robbery. I bet people were actually mourning when the old currency left; now it feels like we just got handed the same old expensive fee structure all over again.

Jesse Bailey91 said:Too much drama. You can just fill out the form with a pen in person.

The generated code is only good for 30 minutes.
Using the Aircash Chase ATM option compared to Western Union online only makes sense if you're moving up to $200. Here’s why. 🙂
When sending from the US, for amounts up to $100, the fee is $1.90, and for anything over $100, it's a flat $3.90. At least, that’s what the estimate shows on their website and app.
Trying to pay through an agent at a physical location is a total waste because the fees are extortionate.

Example:
If I’m sending $900 from the US to Germany online, I pay $903.90. If I go through an agent, I’m paying $938.00 because the fee for that amount jumps to $38. That is a massive difference.
If I use Aircash to withdraw from a Chase ATM, I’m paying $918.00 (which is 2% of the total).

Bottom line: The Western Union way works fine, but strictly online via their site. Forget about doing it at a physical branch unless you absolutely have no other choice.

Yeah, once the dollar became the standard, things changed. Before, they used a normal exchange rate on the web, then one day—for no reason at all—they switched it up. Suddenly, to send 500 dollars, you had to send it in local currency at their specific rate. The cost ended up being the same as going into a branch. It used to be you could just put 500 dollars in a foreign currency account and send 500 plus the $3.90 fee. Then they pulled that move where we could only send local currency, and the exchange rate went off the rails. I remember sending 900 once and they took nearly 60 on the rate. I didn't send more than that, obviously. Maybe they did that just to protect the brick-and-mortar branches here in America. Now that everything is standardized, they went back to the old way.