Western Union money transfer

[El manolo]

Welcome to the club... so possibly it is a clear-out of the expats sending money to themselves as "family support". The pointer to their T&Cs is just a distraction, it's simply unintelligible, unformatted gobbledegook and I didn't see anything relevant. They're not huge amounts of money, I expect, certainly not in my case. Were you doing cash pickups, or bank transfers?

Cash pickups, 5000 to 10000 USD per month as I just moved here at the time and we came with nothing. So, we needed a lot and I also bought apartments in Cuotas which I had to pay every month. They blocked my wife also. This happened pretty fast, maybe we used them the first 2 or 3 months then we got blocked. We moved here in June 2022.

 

[Rich One]

What defines Ayuda Familiar ?. What amounts, how often , what extended family links ? Who knows ?

 

[Redpossum]

I have only used WU for relatively small amounts. Usually just 300 USD at a time.

 

[jlynch]

From experience if you go over 1000-2000 usd for a month you will be getting KYC requests for more and more documentation, proof of funds etc. If you need more go to a cueva.

The sending amount is called out on the WU site as 719.000 ARS and most likely the same number applies to received amounts. Someone from WU support could confirm

Frequently Asked Questions | Western Union Argentina

Find the answers to many of your questions here. How to send money from Argentina, how to pick-up money at agent location and others.

www.westernunion.com

How much money can I send from an agent location?

At any of our Western Union stores or participating agent locations, you will be able to send up to 719.000 ARS per money transaction and up to 719.000 ARS total per month.
You can also send a total of 720.000 ARS per calendar year. If you want to send more than 720.000 ARS within a calendar year, you will need to provide additional documents to be able to do so.

 

[Che1990]

What defines Ayuda Familiar ?. What amounts, how often , what extended family links ? Who knows ?

I figured that its anything from a close family member.

The big thing is you are not supposed to send money to yourself, so have the account in a family members name if you can.

 

[rickulivi]

Most interesting conversation about WU restrictions. I have not had any so far, and it makes me wonder why not? I normally transfer us$300 per month bank to bank and it usually takes a day or two for the transfer. Sometimes I’ll do $1k. Last November I made a much larger transfer, like 10k and it was delayed for a week. When I called for an explanation, I was told it was policy. The transfer went thru in a week, and no problem. So, I am surprised to read about others folk’s problems. Your posts help me prepare for when I am kicked out of WU’s system. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Johnny]

I figured that its anything from a close family member.

The big thing is you are not supposed to send money to yourself, so have the account in a family members name if you can.

I don't send money to anyone BUT myself. No problems.

 

[Aztangogirl]

I don't send money to anyone BUT myself. No problems.

I send money to myself every month. Never had a problem. Been doing it for five years.

 

[steveinbsas]

The big thing is you are not supposed to send money to yourself, so have the account in a family members name if you can.

As I was setting up my WU acount several years ago I had to call customer service for some reason, but I don't remember exactly what that reason was.

At some point in the conversation I was asked if I was sending money to myself.

I answered yes and there has never been a delay of more than one day in receiving any of my transfers, which I have been making every month for the past three years.

It was always possible for me to send money to myself using XOOM but never using Transferwise (now WISE).

I haven't used XOOM in over three years, so I don't know if their policy has changed to exclude sending money to yourself.

So far, it it has not been an issue with Western Union

 

[GMan_27]

As I was setting up my WU acount several years ago I had to call customer service for some reason, but I don't remember exactly what that reason was.

At some point in the conversation I was asked if I was sending money to myself.

I answered yes and there has never been a delay of more than one day in receiving any of my transfers, which I have been making every month for the past three years.

It was always possible for me to send money to myself using XOOM but never using Transferwise (now WISE).

I haven't used XOOM in over three years, so I don't know if their policy has changed to exclude sending money to yourself.

So far, it it has not been an issue with Western Union

Wait so let me get this straight. According to WU essentially:
It is seen as more "legitimate" to send money to yourself (while living in Argentina) from a foreign bank account to an Argentinian bank account or WU agent location VS sending money to a spouse or family member (who you live with) from a foreign bank account to an Argentinian bank account or WU agent location.

I do the later.