Western Union money transfer

[lunar]

I don't think they need to balance anything. Just use the CCL with a profit spread.

Why is everyone discussing the CCL in the WU thread? Does anyone have insights into the internal workings of WU? They might be hedging with futures or employing other strategies, for instance.

 

[retiredbanker]

We've been here before so let's let this play out. The open today 21 Nov.

 

[mageesa]

All I can say is I've never seen longer Wu línes than this morning. But I think it's just the long weekend.

 

[Redpossum]

Why is everyone discussing the CCL in the WU thread? Does anyone have insights into the internal workings of WU? They might be hedging with futures or employing other strategies, for instance.

Because question #3 on the Western Union FAQ was reiterated by Patrick2006 in the form "Why has the rate of Western Union been lower than the blue dollar by so much in the past month?", and one cannot attempt to answer that very, very frequently asked question without discussing the other rates, whether CCL or MEP or "dólar xxxxx" or whatever.

To be clear for those who are either new or humor-impaired, there does not actually exist a Western Union FAQ. The closest thing is a summary* I wrote back in May 2022, from which I here quote paragraph 4 -

WU sets its own exchange rate. This usually varies somewhere between the CCL rate and the Blue rate. There are many exchange rates here in AR, and explaining them all is not within the scope of this post. This WU rate can vary from hour to hour, or it can remain the same for days or even weeks, though the latter is uncommon. As with all things AR, there are no certainties, and Your Mileage May Vary. WU does not treat all customers the same. We don't know why or how they are divided, or into what categories; all this is opaque. Welcome to Argentina.


*pinned at the top of the Expat Life forum. Some info, (such as promo codes), is outdated, but the basics remain the same.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Because question #3 on the Western Union FAQ was reiterated by Patrick2006 in the form "Why has the rate of Western Union been lower than the blue dollar by so much in the past month?", and one cannot attempt to answer that very, very frequently asked question without discussing the other rates, whether CCL or MEP or "dólar xxxxx" or whatever.

To be clear for those who are either new or humor-impaired, there does not actually exist a Western Union FAQ. The closest thing is a summary* I wrote back in May 2022, from which I here quote paragraph 4 -

WU sets its own exchange rate. This usually varies somewhere between the CCL rate and the Blue rate. There are many exchange rates here in AR, and explaining them all is not within the scope of this post. This WU rate can vary from hour to hour, or it can remain the same for days or even weeks, though the latter is uncommon. As with all things AR, there are no certainties, and Your Mileage May Vary. WU does not treat all customers the same. We don't know why or how they are divided, or into what categories; all this is opaque. Welcome to Argentina.


*pinned at the top of the Expat Life forum. Some info, (such as promo codes), is outdated, but the basics remain the same.

Further, last time I looked, Western Union was not a cooperative or mutual with a mission statement to provide the best of all possible terms of exchange for expats everywhere but a NYSE-listed corporation whose purpose is to maximise the the returns for its investors. Whatever WU is doing you may be quietly confident that it is working in the best interests of WU.

 

[Redpossum]

Further, last time I looked, Western Union was not a cooperative or mutual with a mission statement to provide the best of all possible terms of exchange for expats everywhere but a NYSE-listed corporation whose purpose is to maximise the the returns for its investors. Whatever WU is doing you may be quietly confident that it is working in the best interests of WU.

“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

************************

"That we are overdone with banking institutions which have banished the precious metals and substituted a more fluctuating and unsafe medium, that these have withdrawn capital from useful improvements and employments to nourish idleness, that the wars of the world have swollen our commerce beyond the wholesome limits of exchanging our own productions for our own wants, and that, for the emolument of a small proportion of our society who prefer these demoralizing pursuits to labors useful to the whole, the peace of the whole is endangered and all our present difficulties produced, are evils more easily to be deplored than remedied."

--- Thomas Jefferson

 

[Quilombo]

MEP closed at $923 / $935 today for Buy/Sell, and with WU at a measly $838 it means you're likely better using a foreign issued card tomorrow once Visa/MC/Amex update their rates.

WU is likely to stay lower due to the following measure, so credit/debit cards and dollars in cash will likely rule until Milei is sworn in.

 

[Quilombo]

It's now better to use a visa card than WU:

 

[pitipur]

However I dont think the MEP is the actual rate your credit card gives you. Last week the MEP was around 850 but my visa card gave me just under 800.

 

[Quilombo]

However I dont think the MEP is the actual rate your credit card gives you. Last week the MEP was around 850 but my visa card gave me just under 800.

That's correct, the screenshot is the rate visa gives you today if your bank doesn't charge a forex fee. The MEP is about 933 and they're giving ~867.