Western Union is the larger of these two companies and has worldwide recognition through one telegraph industry monopoly. The sending of telegrams was officially discontinued only in 2006, but by that time Western Union had moved to new ventures. has around 500,000 locations in over 200 countries around the world. Customers can send money by phone, via the Western Union website, or in person. Can I use my credit card for Western Union?
Wester Union fees can be high or cheap, depending on the long list of factors, including the form of payment used, speed of money delivery, cash or bank transfer payments from where they are sent and from where they are delivered. In the case of international transfers, the rate adds another element of uncertainty to the cost.
For domestic transfers, if you pay in cash with a Western Union representative and the recipient receives it in cash, the cost is usually around USD 10.00. If you have funds withdrawn from an online bank account, sending cash in March 2020. Costs USD 11.00. Transfers between banks are only USD 0.99. Using a credit or debit card to send additional cash costs depends on the amount you send.
Sending money using a credit card
The term transfer is used in several different ways.
Bank transfer: Transfers traditionally go through banks. These are transfers from one account to another on the same day and are popular for transactions such as home purchases. To complete a transfer, you must provide the recipient’s bank details and you may need to submit a paper form (although small transfer orders may be available online).
Money transfer: This can mean several things, but the basic idea is to send money electronically, whether it’s a traditional “bank transfer” or not. The funds may even be available to the recipient the same day – within a few minutes, as in the case of Venmo. Western Union, MoneyGram and others offer this type of service, and you can configure transfers online or by phone (the recipient can be identified by email address, telephone number or name). Sometimes these transfers take two to three business days as they pass through the ACH network.
Western Union and Credit Cards – Fail
You can be sure that you will be charged in advance for using Western Union to transfer money to your bank account via credit card. Cash advances also do not accumulate miles or points.
A cash advance occurs when you use a credit card to get cash. Cash advances are charged a higher level of interest than normal purchases and there is no grace period to avoid interest. Interest begins to accumulate on the day you withdraw cash, and is usually charged at a daily rate.
You should not use Western Union to send money by credit card, because you will pay an astronomical interest rate in advance and you will not earn points.
You do not earn any miles using the regular Western Union debit card.
But it may be worth using Western Union to transfer money from a prepaid debit card the next time Western Union waives the fees for bank transfers.
