Western Union money transfer

[D.B. Cooper]

Thank you. I had a hunch that she was BSing me. She told me it was for local pick up only.

 

[TheDonald]

It would be interesting to know to what post you were replying when you wrote the above.

The Western Union rate as of this morning is $72.32, so I'm not sure what "My guess is this arb won't open again anytime soon. WU has pulled its excess capital out of Argentina and probably won some significant market share from competitors in the process." actually means.

If I understand correctly that the pesos being paid out by WU in Argentina, can be considered their excess capital, it appears that they still have some which they are willing to dispose of at a highly competitive rate.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but he cueva rates are useless to anyone who has dollars outside of Argentina and want to get them into the country.

Transferring dollars to a dollar account with Transferwise may still be possible, but I'm not sure. For a transfer of $1000 USD the wire fees would probably exceed Transferwise's $21.66 normal fee for the transfer.

Even after one had the dollars in hand, they would still have to go to a cueva to exchange their dollars at a rate close to that of Western Union.
,
Transferwise's rate is (as of this morning) $58,44 to one USD., so whatever an "arb" is, it looks like it's still open and WU is still going after a greater market share.

If I had used Transferwise yesterday to make the transfer of $473 USD, I would receive $27.271 ARS.

With Western Union I will receive $33.484 ARS (enough to cover ALL of my monthly expenses) and keep me from using any other service or transferring dollars to Argentina and taking then to a cueva.

You ask what post I was replying to. The original post on 10/23 was:

"I don't know whats going on but I just got 63.25 from a credit card and 74.08 if you pay in the store from western union maybe a glitch or all hell breaking loose tomorrow."

The next post on 10/24 was:

"western union pay in store in usa is at 77.81 can anybody explain this new contado con liquidi why has western union gone from 56 to 78 in 3 weeks and do you think this dollar is going to stay been sending money to Arg for 15 years never heard of it until 3 days ago thanks"

I assumed that responding to the original post of this thread was appropriate. If I am mistaken or there is a rule that you can only respond to the most recent inquiry or posting on a thread, I am unaware of it.

Today, my cueva is telling me 71 pesos per dollar. I'm showing 72.3 from WU. When I include the $10US fee, I get 71.6 pesos to the dollar (assuming a $1K trade). My cueva delivers. WU doesn't. So in my opinion, the arb has closed. Your economic calculation may differ from mine.

As for WU pulling excess capital out of Argentina, WU also owns PagoFacil. With two highly profitable businesses in Argentina but not a lot of expenses, WU's Argentine operation accumulates pesos here in Argentina. A surplus of pesos, which is large and growing, is not favorable for an American enterprise that wants to convert those pesos to dollars and bring them home to US stockholders. With the 2F victory in the PASO, my guess is that WU had seen the capital control game before. WU feared its large and growing surplus of pesos would be trapped here. WU can't use those funds and as the peso depreciates against the dollar, that surplus shrinks in value by the day. One way to remove excess capital from a country that might impose currency controls is to offer an irresistible exchange rate from the outbound US side. I wrote about the mechanics of this trade a few weeks back.

I post on this forum for a few different reasons. Sometimes, I post about topics that I have a bit of insight into. I did some work on the international remittance industry a while back, so for a layperson, I have some observations. A few people indicate that they find my insights interesting. Most do not. For me, I have always wondered how stuff works. I want to know why a bank sells pesos at 58, while a cueva sells pesos at 65, while WU sells pesos at 78. All in the same moment in time. When I see a situation like that, I want to know why. So I investigate. There are other curious people on this site and in the world. Not many, but there are some. When I post my observations about such topics, I assume there are at least one or two readers who are curious like me.

I hope I have answered all your inquiries, Steve.

 

[steveinbsas]

Based on my personal experience as of yesterday afternoon (1 PM Argentina time/11 AM EST), it is now possible to make a WU transfer from yourself to yourself...on line and without a VPN using the US Western Union website.

Immediately after initiating the transfer, I received a confirmation email as the sender. To my surprise it indicated the funds would be avialble by 12/23 (Monday). I was surprised as I used my debit card and the website indicated the funds would be available "in minutes." The email suggested that the recipient might have to be "registered" in order to receive the funds. I was already registered, so I thought I would just have to wait until Monday.

Then I read an email sent to me by WU as the recipient, asking me to fill out a declaration JJ.DD on line. I did so in less than two minutes and, as soon as I submitted it, I received a message indicating the form would be processed in the "next few hours," so I expect the funds to be credited on Monday.

Well, I checked my n¡bank account at 11 AM and 2 PM today and the funds still had not been credited to my account.

At 2:17 PM I received an email from Western Union/Rapipago asking me to submit the JJDD. Even though I had already done so on Friday, I did it again.

As I was entering the data (easy to do as everything I entered on Friday was stored in the auto fill).

When I got to the CUIL I noticed that I had omitted the last number.

I completed and submitted the form in about one minute.

I checked my I checked my account just before 6 PM and the funds had been credited.

I reread the requirements for submitting the form (aka "registering" with Rapigo in Argentina). It looks like the first couple WU transfers get through without submitting the form. While this was the first transfer I made online from my US bank to my Argentine bank, it was the third transfer with me as the recipient since early November. My sister-in-law made the first two WU transfers, paying in cash in the US and I picked up the funds in person at a WU agency in Bahia Blanca.

So, now I can report with absolute certainly that it is possible to make a bank to bank transfer on line from yourself to yourself using the WU USA website...without using a VPN.

 

[artisans]

Well, I checked my n¡bank account at 11 AM and 2 PM today and the funds still had not been credited to my account.
At 2:17 PM I received an email from Western Union/Rapipago asking me to submit the JJDD. Even though I had already done so on Friday, I did it again.
As I was entering the data (easy to do as everything I entered on Friday was stored in the auto fill).
When I got to the CUIL I noticed that I had omitted the last number.
I completed and submitted the form in about one minute.
I checked my I checked my account just before 6 PM and the funds had been credited.
I reread the requirements for submitting the form (aka "registering" with Rapigo in Argentina). It looks like the first couple WU transfers get through without submitting the form. While this was the first transfer I made online from my US bank to my Argentine bank, it was the third transfer with me as the recipient since early November. My sister-in-law made the first two WU transfers, paying in cash in the US and I picked up the funds in person at a WU agency in Bahia Blanca.
So, now I can report with absolute certainly that it is possible to make a bank to bank transfer on line from yourself to yourself using the WU USA website...without using a VPN.

Given my past experience, I'd call that 'beginning to look a lot like Christmas'! Question, as the receiver did you enter/use your bank account number or the CBU?

 

[steveinbsas]

Bank a

Given my past experience, I'd call that 'beginning to look a lot like Christmas'! Question, as the receiver did you enter/use your bank account number or the CBU?

Bank account number.

 

[MilHojas]

Question, as the receiver did you enter/use your bank account number or the CBU?

CBU

 

[artisans]

Ahh, well, back to Western Union 'Wheel of Fortune' - steveinbsas using bank account number and MilHojas CBU. Next week i'll have reason to try my luck.

 

[steveinbsas]

Ahh, well, back to Western Union 'Wheel of Fortune' - steveinbsas using bank account number and MilHojas CBU. Next week i'll have reason to try my luck.

All I did was provide the requested information when I initiated the transfer on line...

...as well as a corrected form for the DD.JJ. when they sent me an email asking for it.

 

[steveinbsas]

All I did was provide the requested information when I initiated the transfer on line...

...as well as a corrected form for the DD.JJ. when they sent me an email asking for it.

Correction: it was the CBU!

 

[steveinbsas]

The WU ""Wheel Of Fortune has spun again and I have been asked to provide additional information for a transfer I initiated today.

They insist that I call them from my registered telephone. I tried to do so but receive a notification in my MOTO G6 that reads: "Can't make outgoing calls while call barring is on.

This is the first time I have tried to use this phone to make an outgoing call (I've only used whatsapp and skype since I got the phone in August).

I've already searched google for a solution. I tried everything I could in the settings and haven't been able to resolve the problem.

Does anyone have a suggestion how to turn off or disable "call barring" (or find out how to do so ) in this phone?