Как пишется вестерн юнион

This article is about the financial services company. For the military alliance in existence between 1948 and 1954, see Western Union (alliance).

Type	Public company
Traded as	NYSE: WU S&P 400 component
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1851; 172 years ago[1] in Rochester, New York, U.S.
Headquarters	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jeffrey A. Joerres (Chairman) Devin McGranahan (President and CEO)
Services	Wire transfers Money orders Money transfers Bill pay Transfer tracking Price estimation
Revenue	US$5.6 billion (2018)[2]
Operating income	US$1.1 billion (2018)[2]
Net income	US$851.9 million (2018)[2]
Total assets	US$9.0 billion (2018)[2]
Total equity	US$−309.8 million (2018)[2]
Number of employees	12,000[2] (2018)
Website	westernunion.com

The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York,^[3] the company changed its name to the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856 after merging with several other telegraph companies.^[4] The company dominated the American telegraphy industry from the 1860s to the 1980s,^[5] pioneering technology such as telex and developing a range of telegraph-related services (including wire money transfer) in addition to its core business of transmitting and delivering telegram messages.

After experiencing financial difficulties, Western Union began to move its business away from communications in the 1980s and increasingly focused on its money transfer services. The company ceased its communications operations completely in 2006,^[6][7] at which time The New York Times described it as «the world’s largest money-transfer business» and added that due to the large number of immigrants, wiring money home will keep this top position.^[8]

History[edit]

Founding & expansion (1851–1866)[edit]

The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company was founded in Rochester, New York by David Hoyt, Samuel L. Selden, Hiram Sibley, and others in 1851.^[9] In 1856 the company merged with its competitor the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company, controlled by John James Speed, Francis Ormand Jonathan Smith and Ezra Cornell^[10] and, at Cornell’s insistence, changed its name to Western Union Telegraph Company.^[11]

In 1857, Western Union participated in the ‘Treaty of Six Nations’, an attempt by six of the largest telegraph firms to create a system of regional telegraphy monopolies with a shared network of main lines.^[12] After the creation of the ‘Six Nations’ system, Western Union continued to acquire both larger & smaller telegraph companies and by 1864 had transformed from a regional monopoly into a national oligopolist with its only serious competitors being the American Telegraph Company and the United States Telegraph Company.^[13]

Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph in 1861^[14] and formed the Russian–American Telegraph Company in an attempt to link America to Europe, via Alaska, into Siberia, to Moscow – a project abandoned in 1867 following the successful laying of a transatlantic cable in 1866.

Dominance & new challengers (1866–1881)[edit]

In 1866, Western Union acquired the American Telegraph Company & the United States Telegraph Company, its two main competitors, for a time gaining a virtual monopoly over the American telegraphy industry.^[13] The company also began to develop new telegraphy-related services beyond the transmission and delivery of telegrams, launching the first stock ticker in 1866,^[15] a standardized time service in 1870 and wire money transfer in 1871.^[16]

In the 1870s, the company faced increased competition from newly formed rival telegraphy conglomerate Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company and from the nascent telephony industry led by the Bell Telephone Company. Western Union instead attempted to launch a rival telephony system before settling a patent lawsuit with Bell and leaving the telephone business completely in 1879,.^[17][18]

Financier Jay Gould orchestrated a merger of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company with Western Union in 1881, giving him a controlling share of the merged company.^[19][20][21]

Monopoly & decline of telegraphy (1881–1963)[edit]

When the Dow Jones Railroad Average stock market index for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was created in 1884, Western Union was one of the original eleven companies to be included.^[22] By 1900, Western Union operated a million miles of telegraph lines and two international undersea cables.^[23]

AT&T gained control of Western Union in 1909, acquiring a 30% stake in the company.^[13] However in 1913 AT&T, under indictment for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, was forced to sell its shares in the company which once again became independent.^[24]

Western Union acquired its only major competitor in the American telegraphy sector Postal Telegraph, Inc. in 1945, effectively giving the company monopoly power over the industry.^[13] After 1945 the telegraphy industry began to experience a decline, with total telegraph messages almost halving from 1945 to 1960.^[13]

In 1958, Western Union began offering telex services to customers in New York City.^[25] Teleprinter equipment for the telex network was originally provided by Siemens & Halske AG^[26] and later by Teletype Corporation.^[27] Direct international telex services commenced in the summer of 1960, with limited service to London and Paris.^[28]

In honor of Valentine’s Day 1959, Western Union introduced the Candygram, a box of chocolates accompanying a telegram that was featured in a commercial with the rotund Don Wilson.^[29][30]

Western Union International spin-off[edit]

In 1963, Western Union organized its international cable system properties and its right-of-way for connecting international telegraph lines into a separate company called Western Union International (WUI), which it sold that year to American Securities.

In 1967, American Securities listed WUI as a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. WUI was acquired by Xerox for $207 million in stock in 1979^[31] and subsequently sold for $185 million in cash to MCI Communications in 1981.^[32] MCI renamed WUI to MCI International, ceasing the use of Western Union branding.^[32]

Consolidation (1963–1984)[edit]

Western Union purchased the TWX system from AT&T in January 1969, the only major competitor to its own telex network.^[33]

Western Union became the first American telecommunications corporation to maintain its own fleet of geosynchronous communications satellites, starting in 1974. The fleet of satellites, called Westar, carried communications within the Western Union company for telegram and mailgram message data to Western Union bureaus nationwide. It also handled traffic for its telex and TWX services. The Westar satellites’ transponders were also leased by other companies for relaying video, voice, data, and facsimile (fax) transmissions.

In 1981, Western Union purchased a 50% interest in Airfone. It sold Airfone to GTE in 1986 for $39 million in cash.^[34] From 1982, as a result of financial services deregulation, Western Union began offering wire money transfer services globally.^[4]

Financial difficulties, bankruptcies & restructuring (1984–2006)[edit]

In 1984, after years of declining profits and mounting debts, Western Union began to negotiate with its creditors regarding debt restructuring.^[35] The restructuring was completed in 1987 when investor Bennett S. LeBow acquired control of Western Union through an outside of chapter 11 process that was a complex leveraged recapitalization.^[35] The transaction was backed by a total of $900 million in high-yield bonds and preferred stock underwritten by Michael Milken’s group at Drexel Burnham Lambert as part of an exchange offer. LeBow installed Robert J. Amman as President and CEO who led a complete strategic, operational and balance sheet restructuring of the company over the next six years.

Amman executed a strategy of redirecting Western Union from being an asset-based provider of communications services, with a money transfer business as a large but less important part of the business, into being a provider of consumer-based money transfer financial services. Thus, Amman ran the company as two separate companies. One business consisted of the money transfer business, which was funded and operated to take advantage of the significant growth opportunity. The second unit consisted of all the non-strategic communications assets such as the long-distance analog voice network, satellite business and undersea cable assets.

In the three-year period through 1990 Amman was supported by Robert A. Schriesheim, also installed by LeBow, as a special advisor who oversaw the divestiture of the four non-strategic telecommunications assets for about $280 million.

The official name of the corporation was changed to New Valley Corporation in 1991, as part of the company’s move to seek bankruptcy protection to eliminate the firm’s overleveraged balance sheet while continuing to grow the money transfer business. The name change was used to shield the Western Union name from being dragged through the proceedings (and the resulting bad PR).^[36] Under the day to day leadership of Amman and the backing of LeBow, the company’s value increased dramatically through its years operating under chapter 11.

As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Western Union’s telegraphy business was sold to iTelegram.

Following various restructurings, including negotiations with Carl Icahn who became a large bond holder, New Valley Corporation was sold in a bankruptcy auction to First Financial Management Corporation in 1994 for $1.2 billion. In 1995, First Financial merged with First Data Corporation in a $6 billion transaction.

After acquiring the company, First Data Corporation made the decision to relaunch telegraphy services under the Western Union brand.

Public listing & international expansion (2006–present)[edit]

On January 26, 2006, First Data announced its intention to spin off Western Union into independent publicly-traded financial services company focused on money transfers through a tax-free spin-off to First Data shareholders. The spin off occurred as planned on September 29, 2006.^[37] The next day Western Union announced that it would cease offering telegram transmission and delivery.^[38]

In May 2009, Western Union announced its plan to acquire Canada-based Custom House from Peter Gustavson.^[39] The deal closed in September 2009 for a purchase price of US$371 million.^[40] This acquisition led the company to be re-branded as Western Union Business Solutions.^[41] Custom House and its subsidiary XE.com were sold to Euronet Worldwide in 2015 and operate under its HiFX brand.

In January 2011, Western Union acquired Angelo Costa, a group active in money transfer and services to immigrants. Angelo Costa has a network of 7,500 points of sale throughout Europe. The agreement was signed for US$200 million.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2011, Western Union acquired Travelex’s Global Business Payments division for £606 million.^[42]

In October 2011, Western Union completed the acquisition of Finint S.r.l., one of Western Union’s leading money transfer network agents in Europe, with more than 10,000 subagent locations across Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.^[43]

In May 2015, rumors emerged over a proposed merger of Western Union and competitor MoneyGram, at a time when both companies’ revenue were declining.^[44] Western Union denied this was the case.^[45] In January 2017, Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial technology firm instead unsuccessfully attempted to acquire MoneyGram for $880 million,^[46] but this was blocked by the U.S. government citing national security concerns.^[47]

In 2018, the company moved its headquarters from Englewood, Colorado to the Denver Tech Center. The Englewood office complex was sold in 2020 for $40 million.^[48]

In November 2020, Western Union acquired 15% stake in the digital payment unit of Saudi Arabia’s STC Group for $200 million.^[49]

Current services[edit]

Wire transfer[edit]

Money can be sent online or in-person at Western Union agent locations. Cash can be collected in person at any other Western Union agent location worldwide by providing the 10-digit MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number) and identification. In some cases, a secret question and answer can be used instead of identification.

Western Union Mobile[edit]

In October 2007, Western Union announced plans to introduce a mobile money-transfer service with the GSM Association, a global trade association representing more than 700 mobile operators in 218 countries and covering 2.5 billion mobile subscribers.

The proliferation of mobile phones in developed and developing economies provides a widely accessible consumer device capable of delivering mobile financial services ranging from text notifications associated with Western Union cash delivery services to phone-based remittance options. Western Union’s mobile money transfer service offering will connect its core money-transfer platform to m-bank or m-wallet platforms provided by mobile operators and/or locally regulated financial institutions.

Western Union Connect[edit]

The company launched the Western Union Connect service in October 2015, following partnership agreements with major instant messaging apps WeChat and Viber.^[50][51] The partnership allows users of WeChat to send up to $100 to China, the US and 200 other countries,^[51] while Viber users can send up to $100 for $3.99 plus exchange rate fees, with that fixed fee increasing the more money is sent up a limit of $499.^[50]

Past services[edit]

Communications[edit]

Along with satellite telecommunications, Western Union was also active in other forms of telecommunication services:

• Common carrier terrestrial microwave networks
• Business communications networks such as Telex and TWX, which was acquired from AT&T Corporation and renamed Telex II by Western Union
• Landline-based leased voice and data communication circuits
• Long distance telephone service
• Airfone air-ground radiotelephone service from 1981 to 1986
• Cellular phone service for a short time in the early 1980s (the phones were made by two-way radio manufacturer E. F. Johnson Company)

Most of these services were discontinued by Western Union in the late 1980s due to a lack of profitability, with the company’s divisions providing said services being divested and sold to other companies, such as the 1988 sale of WU’s satellite fleet and services to Hughes Space and Communications, and the sale of WU’s Airfone service to GTE in 1986.

Charge card[edit]

In 1914, Western Union was the first to issue a charge card. ^[52][53]

BidPay[edit]

As the Internet became an arena for commerce at the turn of the millennium, Western Union started its online services. BidPay was renamed «Western Union Auction Payments» in 2004 before being renamed back to BidPay. BidPay ceased operations on December 31, 2005, and was purchased for US$1.8 million in March 2006 by CyberSource Corp. who announced their intention to re-launch BidPay. BidPay was later discontinued by CyberSource effective December 31, 2007.^[54]

[edit]

Western Union was a major shirt-sponsor of the Sydney Roosters NRL team from 2002–2003. The company still sponsors the team, but not as a shirt-sponsor. Globally Western Union sponsors numerous community events that help support the diaspora communities that use the global Money Transfer service. They also sponsored numerous WWE and WCW pay-per-view events such as the No Way Out 1998 and Slamboree 2000. They sponsored UEFA Europa League from 2012 until 2015.^{[citation needed]}

The First Data Western Union Foundation donates money to charitable causes globally. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Foundation donated US$1,000,000 to the relief effort.^[55]

The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association announced a three-year deal making Western Union the team’s jersey sponsor, beginning with the 2017–18 NBA Season.^{[citation needed]}

Liverpool F.C. announced on August 9, 2017 that Western Union would become their first ever sleeve sponsors, from the start of the 2017–18 Season. They signed a £25m deal for 5 years as Liverpool’s sleeve sponsor.^{[citation needed]}

Involvement in early computer networking[edit]

Western Union telegrams were transmitted through a store and forward message switching system.^[56] Early versions were manual telegraph systems. Later systems using teleprinters were semi-automatic, using punched paper tape to receive, store, and retransmit messages. Plan 55-A, Western Union’s last paper tape based switching system (1948–1976), was fully automatic, with automatic routing.^[57][58]

Western Union was a prime contractor in the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN) program. AUTODIN, a military application for communication, was first developed in the 1960s and became the precursor to the modern Internet in the 1990s. The Defense Message System (DMS) replaced AUTODIN in 2000.^[59]

AUTODIN, originally named «ComLogNet», was a reliable service that operated at 99.99% availability, using mechanical punched card readers and tab machines to send and receive data over leased lines.^[60] During the peak operation of AUTODIN, the US portion of the network handled 20 million messages a month.^{[citation needed]} Western Union failed in its attempts to engineer a replacement (AUTODIN II), leading to the development of an acceptable packet-switched network by BBN (the developer of the ARPANET) which became the foundation of today’s Internet. AUTODIN service ceased in 2000, years after it had become obsolete.^[61]

A related innovation that came from AUTODIN was Western Union’s computer based EasyLink service.^[62] This system allowed one of the first marketable email systems for non-government users. The system allowed the same message to be sent simultaneously to multiple recipients via email, fax, mailgram, or telex services as well as allowing messages to be sent from the integrated formats. With the service, users could also perform research utilizing its InfoLink application. EasyLink was spun off as a separate company and is now part of OpenText.^[63]

Controversies[edit]

Scam industry and money laundering[edit]

Western Union advises its customers not to send money to someone that they have never met in person. Despite its efforts in increasing customers’ awareness of the issue,^[64] Western Union is used for internet fraud by scammers.^[65]

Western Union has been required to maintain records of payout locations of the individuals who may be laundering the money, though this information may be obtained only through the use of a subpoena. Hence advance-fee fraud and romance scammers continue to receive funds via Western Union confident in the knowledge that money lost to overseas scammers is almost always unrecoverable.^[66] For this reason, it is banned as a medium of payment through eBay,^[67] and discouraged on other online auction websites.^[68]

Western Union admitted to allowing wire fraud in January 2017 and agreed to pay $586m, for turning a blind eye as criminals used its service for advance fee fraud. Scammers engaging in various 419 advance fee scams including offering fake job offers and lottery prizes, were able to process transactions using Western Union money transfer, mainly by giving the agents a share of the earnings from their scams. Western Union failed to investigate hundreds of thousands of complaints that were filed by victims.^[69]

Money laundering and terrorist financing[edit]

The Central Bank of Ireland reprimanded and fined Western Union €1.75m in May 2015 because of failures in anti money laundering practices which could have left the firm’s payment services open to being used for money laundering and/or terrorist financing saying that they were concerned that Western Union «failed to have in place sufficiently robust systems and procedures to train agents, to monitor and identify suspicious activity in respect of smaller transactions, and to maintain appropriate records» and «the splitting of payments into many separate smaller payments is a common method used to launder money. Similarly, terrorist financing is often carried out by small payment transfers.»^[70][71]

Western Union agents also allowed Chinese immigrants to the US to use the service to send hundreds of millions of dollars, by sending the amounts in smaller increments to avoid transfer reporting requirements, to pay human smugglers.^[69]

In 2017, Western Union admitted to anti-money laundering and consumer fraud violations and agreed to pay $586 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice.^[72] Among other charges, the Justice Department showed that Western Union was complicit in creating an ecosystem where criminals were able to engage in consumer fraud and human trafficking. The charges were dismissed in March 2020.^[73]

In 2018, Western Union was fined $60 million by the New York State Department of Financial Services.^[74] The press release accompanying the fine stated that, «Western Union executives put profits ahead of the company’s responsibilities to detect and prevent money laundering and fraud, by choosing to maintain relationships with and failing to discipline obviously suspect, but highly profitable, agents.»

On May 29, 2019, Western Union announced the departure of a company executive, Odilon Almeida, who served as executive vice president and president of Global Money Transfer.^[75] In 2012, Stewart Stockdale, who had the same position as Almeida, left the company in a similar situation.

Connection to military intelligence[edit]

The book «The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11» alleged that Western Union provided United States military intelligence with personal information.^[76]

Anti-competitive behavior[edit]

Western Union has been accused of engaging in anti-competitive behavior in Africa as a result of a lack of competition on the continent.^[44] According to a report by the Overseas Development Institute, this allows Western Union to artificially inflate its fees for money transfers, charging what has been called an “Africa charge” of 8% consistently “applied across countries regardless of the size of the market, regulatory costs or market risk.”^[77] However, the fees can be as high as 10% or more, depending on the region.^[78] Africa’s remittance market remains the most expensive in the world,^[79] and the region is estimated to incur excess costs of $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion per year as a result of these high remittance fees.^[77]

The company has also been criticized for its use of exclusivity agreements with banks in countries that receive remittances, restricting competition and harming the consumer,^[80] by requiring the consumer to conduct transactions via nominated banks.^[77] This also allows for the imposition of above-average transaction fees.^[77]

In February 2016, Harada Ltd filed a complaint with the EU antitrust regulator claiming that Western Union colluded with banks to push out smaller rivals from the money transfer market.^[81]
The commission concluded that the allegations were insufficient and found in favor of Western Union.^[82]

See also[edit]

• 60 Hudson Street – Former headquarters
• 92 Code
• Pangram – Used by WU to test teleprinters.
• Pennsylvania v. New York — Question before the U.S. Supreme Court: when Western Union Money orders are supposed to escheat to the state if not fully redeemed, what state is to get the money?
• Telegram messenger
• Western Union, 1939 schooner chartered by Western Union Telegraph Company, used in the film Amistad as a portrayal of the slave ship La Amistad
• Western Union splice
• Western Union Telegraph Building – Former headquarters

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Wolff, Joshua D., Western Union and the Creation of the American Corporate Order, 1845–1893. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Business data for Western Union:
  • Google
  • SEC filings
  • Yahoo!
• Telegram for America, an industrial film showing Western Union telegram handling (1956)
• Western Union Telegram Collection at the University of Mississippi Libraries
• Image of striking Western Union employees picketing an office in Los Angeles, California, 1971. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles

This article is about the financial services company. For the military alliance in existence between 1948 and 1954, see Western Union (alliance).

Type	Public company
Traded as	NYSE: WU S&P 400 component
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1851; 172 years ago[1] in Rochester, New York, U.S.
Headquarters	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jeffrey A. Joerres (Chairman) Devin McGranahan (President and CEO)
Services	Wire transfers Money orders Money transfers Bill pay Transfer tracking Price estimation
Revenue	US$5.6 billion (2018)[2]
Operating income	US$1.1 billion (2018)[2]
Net income	US$851.9 million (2018)[2]
Total assets	US$9.0 billion (2018)[2]
Total equity	US$−309.8 million (2018)[2]
Number of employees	12,000[2] (2018)
Website	westernunion.com

The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York,^[3] the company changed its name to the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856 after merging with several other telegraph companies.^[4] The company dominated the American telegraphy industry from the 1860s to the 1980s,^[5] pioneering technology such as telex and developing a range of telegraph-related services (including wire money transfer) in addition to its core business of transmitting and delivering telegram messages.

After experiencing financial difficulties, Western Union began to move its business away from communications in the 1980s and increasingly focused on its money transfer services. The company ceased its communications operations completely in 2006,^[6][7] at which time The New York Times described it as «the world’s largest money-transfer business» and added that due to the large number of immigrants, wiring money home will keep this top position.^[8]

History[edit]

Founding & expansion (1851–1866)[edit]

The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company was founded in Rochester, New York by David Hoyt, Samuel L. Selden, Hiram Sibley, and others in 1851.^[9] In 1856 the company merged with its competitor the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company, controlled by John James Speed, Francis Ormand Jonathan Smith and Ezra Cornell^[10] and, at Cornell’s insistence, changed its name to Western Union Telegraph Company.^[11]

In 1857, Western Union participated in the ‘Treaty of Six Nations’, an attempt by six of the largest telegraph firms to create a system of regional telegraphy monopolies with a shared network of main lines.^[12] After the creation of the ‘Six Nations’ system, Western Union continued to acquire both larger & smaller telegraph companies and by 1864 had transformed from a regional monopoly into a national oligopolist with its only serious competitors being the American Telegraph Company and the United States Telegraph Company.^[13]

Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph in 1861^[14] and formed the Russian–American Telegraph Company in an attempt to link America to Europe, via Alaska, into Siberia, to Moscow – a project abandoned in 1867 following the successful laying of a transatlantic cable in 1866.

Dominance & new challengers (1866–1881)[edit]

In 1866, Western Union acquired the American Telegraph Company & the United States Telegraph Company, its two main competitors, for a time gaining a virtual monopoly over the American telegraphy industry.^[13] The company also began to develop new telegraphy-related services beyond the transmission and delivery of telegrams, launching the first stock ticker in 1866,^[15] a standardized time service in 1870 and wire money transfer in 1871.^[16]

In the 1870s, the company faced increased competition from newly formed rival telegraphy conglomerate Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company and from the nascent telephony industry led by the Bell Telephone Company. Western Union instead attempted to launch a rival telephony system before settling a patent lawsuit with Bell and leaving the telephone business completely in 1879,.^[17][18]

Financier Jay Gould orchestrated a merger of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company with Western Union in 1881, giving him a controlling share of the merged company.^[19][20][21]

Monopoly & decline of telegraphy (1881–1963)[edit]

When the Dow Jones Railroad Average stock market index for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was created in 1884, Western Union was one of the original eleven companies to be included.^[22] By 1900, Western Union operated a million miles of telegraph lines and two international undersea cables.^[23]

AT&T gained control of Western Union in 1909, acquiring a 30% stake in the company.^[13] However in 1913 AT&T, under indictment for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, was forced to sell its shares in the company which once again became independent.^[24]

Western Union acquired its only major competitor in the American telegraphy sector Postal Telegraph, Inc. in 1945, effectively giving the company monopoly power over the industry.^[13] After 1945 the telegraphy industry began to experience a decline, with total telegraph messages almost halving from 1945 to 1960.^[13]

In 1958, Western Union began offering telex services to customers in New York City.^[25] Teleprinter equipment for the telex network was originally provided by Siemens & Halske AG^[26] and later by Teletype Corporation.^[27] Direct international telex services commenced in the summer of 1960, with limited service to London and Paris.^[28]

In honor of Valentine’s Day 1959, Western Union introduced the Candygram, a box of chocolates accompanying a telegram that was featured in a commercial with the rotund Don Wilson.^[29][30]

Western Union International spin-off[edit]

In 1963, Western Union organized its international cable system properties and its right-of-way for connecting international telegraph lines into a separate company called Western Union International (WUI), which it sold that year to American Securities.

In 1967, American Securities listed WUI as a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. WUI was acquired by Xerox for $207 million in stock in 1979^[31] and subsequently sold for $185 million in cash to MCI Communications in 1981.^[32] MCI renamed WUI to MCI International, ceasing the use of Western Union branding.^[32]

Consolidation (1963–1984)[edit]

Western Union purchased the TWX system from AT&T in January 1969, the only major competitor to its own telex network.^[33]

Western Union became the first American telecommunications corporation to maintain its own fleet of geosynchronous communications satellites, starting in 1974. The fleet of satellites, called Westar, carried communications within the Western Union company for telegram and mailgram message data to Western Union bureaus nationwide. It also handled traffic for its telex and TWX services. The Westar satellites’ transponders were also leased by other companies for relaying video, voice, data, and facsimile (fax) transmissions.

In 1981, Western Union purchased a 50% interest in Airfone. It sold Airfone to GTE in 1986 for $39 million in cash.^[34] From 1982, as a result of financial services deregulation, Western Union began offering wire money transfer services globally.^[4]

Financial difficulties, bankruptcies & restructuring (1984–2006)[edit]

In 1984, after years of declining profits and mounting debts, Western Union began to negotiate with its creditors regarding debt restructuring.^[35] The restructuring was completed in 1987 when investor Bennett S. LeBow acquired control of Western Union through an outside of chapter 11 process that was a complex leveraged recapitalization.^[35] The transaction was backed by a total of $900 million in high-yield bonds and preferred stock underwritten by Michael Milken’s group at Drexel Burnham Lambert as part of an exchange offer. LeBow installed Robert J. Amman as President and CEO who led a complete strategic, operational and balance sheet restructuring of the company over the next six years.

Amman executed a strategy of redirecting Western Union from being an asset-based provider of communications services, with a money transfer business as a large but less important part of the business, into being a provider of consumer-based money transfer financial services. Thus, Amman ran the company as two separate companies. One business consisted of the money transfer business, which was funded and operated to take advantage of the significant growth opportunity. The second unit consisted of all the non-strategic communications assets such as the long-distance analog voice network, satellite business and undersea cable assets.

In the three-year period through 1990 Amman was supported by Robert A. Schriesheim, also installed by LeBow, as a special advisor who oversaw the divestiture of the four non-strategic telecommunications assets for about $280 million.

The official name of the corporation was changed to New Valley Corporation in 1991, as part of the company’s move to seek bankruptcy protection to eliminate the firm’s overleveraged balance sheet while continuing to grow the money transfer business. The name change was used to shield the Western Union name from being dragged through the proceedings (and the resulting bad PR).^[36] Under the day to day leadership of Amman and the backing of LeBow, the company’s value increased dramatically through its years operating under chapter 11.

As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Western Union’s telegraphy business was sold to iTelegram.

Following various restructurings, including negotiations with Carl Icahn who became a large bond holder, New Valley Corporation was sold in a bankruptcy auction to First Financial Management Corporation in 1994 for $1.2 billion. In 1995, First Financial merged with First Data Corporation in a $6 billion transaction.

After acquiring the company, First Data Corporation made the decision to relaunch telegraphy services under the Western Union brand.

Public listing & international expansion (2006–present)[edit]

On January 26, 2006, First Data announced its intention to spin off Western Union into independent publicly-traded financial services company focused on money transfers through a tax-free spin-off to First Data shareholders. The spin off occurred as planned on September 29, 2006.^[37] The next day Western Union announced that it would cease offering telegram transmission and delivery.^[38]

In May 2009, Western Union announced its plan to acquire Canada-based Custom House from Peter Gustavson.^[39] The deal closed in September 2009 for a purchase price of US$371 million.^[40] This acquisition led the company to be re-branded as Western Union Business Solutions.^[41] Custom House and its subsidiary XE.com were sold to Euronet Worldwide in 2015 and operate under its HiFX brand.

In January 2011, Western Union acquired Angelo Costa, a group active in money transfer and services to immigrants. Angelo Costa has a network of 7,500 points of sale throughout Europe. The agreement was signed for US$200 million.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2011, Western Union acquired Travelex’s Global Business Payments division for £606 million.^[42]

In October 2011, Western Union completed the acquisition of Finint S.r.l., one of Western Union’s leading money transfer network agents in Europe, with more than 10,000 subagent locations across Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.^[43]

In May 2015, rumors emerged over a proposed merger of Western Union and competitor MoneyGram, at a time when both companies’ revenue were declining.^[44] Western Union denied this was the case.^[45] In January 2017, Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial technology firm instead unsuccessfully attempted to acquire MoneyGram for $880 million,^[46] but this was blocked by the U.S. government citing national security concerns.^[47]

In 2018, the company moved its headquarters from Englewood, Colorado to the Denver Tech Center. The Englewood office complex was sold in 2020 for $40 million.^[48]

In November 2020, Western Union acquired 15% stake in the digital payment unit of Saudi Arabia’s STC Group for $200 million.^[49]

Current services[edit]

Wire transfer[edit]

Money can be sent online or in-person at Western Union agent locations. Cash can be collected in person at any other Western Union agent location worldwide by providing the 10-digit MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number) and identification. In some cases, a secret question and answer can be used instead of identification.

Western Union Mobile[edit]

In October 2007, Western Union announced plans to introduce a mobile money-transfer service with the GSM Association, a global trade association representing more than 700 mobile operators in 218 countries and covering 2.5 billion mobile subscribers.

The proliferation of mobile phones in developed and developing economies provides a widely accessible consumer device capable of delivering mobile financial services ranging from text notifications associated with Western Union cash delivery services to phone-based remittance options. Western Union’s mobile money transfer service offering will connect its core money-transfer platform to m-bank or m-wallet platforms provided by mobile operators and/or locally regulated financial institutions.

Western Union Connect[edit]

The company launched the Western Union Connect service in October 2015, following partnership agreements with major instant messaging apps WeChat and Viber.^[50][51] The partnership allows users of WeChat to send up to $100 to China, the US and 200 other countries,^[51] while Viber users can send up to $100 for $3.99 plus exchange rate fees, with that fixed fee increasing the more money is sent up a limit of $499.^[50]

Past services[edit]

Communications[edit]

Along with satellite telecommunications, Western Union was also active in other forms of telecommunication services:

• Common carrier terrestrial microwave networks
• Business communications networks such as Telex and TWX, which was acquired from AT&T Corporation and renamed Telex II by Western Union
• Landline-based leased voice and data communication circuits
• Long distance telephone service
• Airfone air-ground radiotelephone service from 1981 to 1986
• Cellular phone service for a short time in the early 1980s (the phones were made by two-way radio manufacturer E. F. Johnson Company)

Most of these services were discontinued by Western Union in the late 1980s due to a lack of profitability, with the company’s divisions providing said services being divested and sold to other companies, such as the 1988 sale of WU’s satellite fleet and services to Hughes Space and Communications, and the sale of WU’s Airfone service to GTE in 1986.

Charge card[edit]

In 1914, Western Union was the first to issue a charge card. ^[52][53]

BidPay[edit]

As the Internet became an arena for commerce at the turn of the millennium, Western Union started its online services. BidPay was renamed «Western Union Auction Payments» in 2004 before being renamed back to BidPay. BidPay ceased operations on December 31, 2005, and was purchased for US$1.8 million in March 2006 by CyberSource Corp. who announced their intention to re-launch BidPay. BidPay was later discontinued by CyberSource effective December 31, 2007.^[54]

[edit]

Western Union was a major shirt-sponsor of the Sydney Roosters NRL team from 2002–2003. The company still sponsors the team, but not as a shirt-sponsor. Globally Western Union sponsors numerous community events that help support the diaspora communities that use the global Money Transfer service. They also sponsored numerous WWE and WCW pay-per-view events such as the No Way Out 1998 and Slamboree 2000. They sponsored UEFA Europa League from 2012 until 2015.^{[citation needed]}

The First Data Western Union Foundation donates money to charitable causes globally. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Foundation donated US$1,000,000 to the relief effort.^[55]

The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association announced a three-year deal making Western Union the team’s jersey sponsor, beginning with the 2017–18 NBA Season.^{[citation needed]}

Liverpool F.C. announced on August 9, 2017 that Western Union would become their first ever sleeve sponsors, from the start of the 2017–18 Season. They signed a £25m deal for 5 years as Liverpool’s sleeve sponsor.^{[citation needed]}

Involvement in early computer networking[edit]

Western Union telegrams were transmitted through a store and forward message switching system.^[56] Early versions were manual telegraph systems. Later systems using teleprinters were semi-automatic, using punched paper tape to receive, store, and retransmit messages. Plan 55-A, Western Union’s last paper tape based switching system (1948–1976), was fully automatic, with automatic routing.^[57][58]

Western Union was a prime contractor in the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN) program. AUTODIN, a military application for communication, was first developed in the 1960s and became the precursor to the modern Internet in the 1990s. The Defense Message System (DMS) replaced AUTODIN in 2000.^[59]

AUTODIN, originally named «ComLogNet», was a reliable service that operated at 99.99% availability, using mechanical punched card readers and tab machines to send and receive data over leased lines.^[60] During the peak operation of AUTODIN, the US portion of the network handled 20 million messages a month.^{[citation needed]} Western Union failed in its attempts to engineer a replacement (AUTODIN II), leading to the development of an acceptable packet-switched network by BBN (the developer of the ARPANET) which became the foundation of today’s Internet. AUTODIN service ceased in 2000, years after it had become obsolete.^[61]

A related innovation that came from AUTODIN was Western Union’s computer based EasyLink service.^[62] This system allowed one of the first marketable email systems for non-government users. The system allowed the same message to be sent simultaneously to multiple recipients via email, fax, mailgram, or telex services as well as allowing messages to be sent from the integrated formats. With the service, users could also perform research utilizing its InfoLink application. EasyLink was spun off as a separate company and is now part of OpenText.^[63]

Controversies[edit]

Scam industry and money laundering[edit]

Western Union advises its customers not to send money to someone that they have never met in person. Despite its efforts in increasing customers’ awareness of the issue,^[64] Western Union is used for internet fraud by scammers.^[65]

Western Union has been required to maintain records of payout locations of the individuals who may be laundering the money, though this information may be obtained only through the use of a subpoena. Hence advance-fee fraud and romance scammers continue to receive funds via Western Union confident in the knowledge that money lost to overseas scammers is almost always unrecoverable.^[66] For this reason, it is banned as a medium of payment through eBay,^[67] and discouraged on other online auction websites.^[68]

Western Union admitted to allowing wire fraud in January 2017 and agreed to pay $586m, for turning a blind eye as criminals used its service for advance fee fraud. Scammers engaging in various 419 advance fee scams including offering fake job offers and lottery prizes, were able to process transactions using Western Union money transfer, mainly by giving the agents a share of the earnings from their scams. Western Union failed to investigate hundreds of thousands of complaints that were filed by victims.^[69]

Money laundering and terrorist financing[edit]

The Central Bank of Ireland reprimanded and fined Western Union €1.75m in May 2015 because of failures in anti money laundering practices which could have left the firm’s payment services open to being used for money laundering and/or terrorist financing saying that they were concerned that Western Union «failed to have in place sufficiently robust systems and procedures to train agents, to monitor and identify suspicious activity in respect of smaller transactions, and to maintain appropriate records» and «the splitting of payments into many separate smaller payments is a common method used to launder money. Similarly, terrorist financing is often carried out by small payment transfers.»^[70][71]

Western Union agents also allowed Chinese immigrants to the US to use the service to send hundreds of millions of dollars, by sending the amounts in smaller increments to avoid transfer reporting requirements, to pay human smugglers.^[69]

In 2017, Western Union admitted to anti-money laundering and consumer fraud violations and agreed to pay $586 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice.^[72] Among other charges, the Justice Department showed that Western Union was complicit in creating an ecosystem where criminals were able to engage in consumer fraud and human trafficking. The charges were dismissed in March 2020.^[73]

In 2018, Western Union was fined $60 million by the New York State Department of Financial Services.^[74] The press release accompanying the fine stated that, «Western Union executives put profits ahead of the company’s responsibilities to detect and prevent money laundering and fraud, by choosing to maintain relationships with and failing to discipline obviously suspect, but highly profitable, agents.»

On May 29, 2019, Western Union announced the departure of a company executive, Odilon Almeida, who served as executive vice president and president of Global Money Transfer.^[75] In 2012, Stewart Stockdale, who had the same position as Almeida, left the company in a similar situation.

Connection to military intelligence[edit]

The book «The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11» alleged that Western Union provided United States military intelligence with personal information.^[76]

Anti-competitive behavior[edit]

Western Union has been accused of engaging in anti-competitive behavior in Africa as a result of a lack of competition on the continent.^[44] According to a report by the Overseas Development Institute, this allows Western Union to artificially inflate its fees for money transfers, charging what has been called an “Africa charge” of 8% consistently “applied across countries regardless of the size of the market, regulatory costs or market risk.”^[77] However, the fees can be as high as 10% or more, depending on the region.^[78] Africa’s remittance market remains the most expensive in the world,^[79] and the region is estimated to incur excess costs of $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion per year as a result of these high remittance fees.^[77]

The company has also been criticized for its use of exclusivity agreements with banks in countries that receive remittances, restricting competition and harming the consumer,^[80] by requiring the consumer to conduct transactions via nominated banks.^[77] This also allows for the imposition of above-average transaction fees.^[77]

In February 2016, Harada Ltd filed a complaint with the EU antitrust regulator claiming that Western Union colluded with banks to push out smaller rivals from the money transfer market.^[81]
The commission concluded that the allegations were insufficient and found in favor of Western Union.^[82]

See also[edit]

• 60 Hudson Street – Former headquarters
• 92 Code
• Pangram – Used by WU to test teleprinters.
• Pennsylvania v. New York — Question before the U.S. Supreme Court: when Western Union Money orders are supposed to escheat to the state if not fully redeemed, what state is to get the money?
• Telegram messenger
• Western Union, 1939 schooner chartered by Western Union Telegraph Company, used in the film Amistad as a portrayal of the slave ship La Amistad
• Western Union splice
• Western Union Telegraph Building – Former headquarters

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Wolff, Joshua D., Western Union and the Creation of the American Corporate Order, 1845–1893. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Business data for Western Union:
  • Google
  • SEC filings
  • Yahoo!
• Telegram for America, an industrial film showing Western Union telegram handling (1956)
• Western Union Telegram Collection at the University of Mississippi Libraries
• Image of striking Western Union employees picketing an office in Los Angeles, California, 1971. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles

Western Union (Вестерн Юнион) — международная система денежных переводов. Western Union (WU) — хороший вариант для международных денежных переводов. WU признан во всем мире надежным сервисом, осуществляющим быстрые и безопасные международные денежные переводы.

О компании The Western Union Company

The Western Union Company — американская компания, основанная в США в 1851 году. Штаб-квартира компании в городе Энглвуд, штат Колорадо, США. Компания насчитывает более 11 тысяч сотрудников. Это акционерная компания открытого типа, лицензированная и уполномоченная Департаментом финансовых услуг штата Нью-Йорк в США и во всех регионах мира, где она осуществляет свою деятельность. В настоящее время Western Union Company оценивается примерно в 9 миллиардов долларов. В большинстве стран онлайн-сервис Western Union представляет Western Union International Bank GmbH, лицензированный  Управлением финансового рынка Австрии (Österreichische Finanzmarktaufsicht) и Western Union International Limited. Western Union регулируется во многих странах, включая США, Канаду, Австралию, Новую Зеландию, Бразилию и Ирландию.

Как отправить и получить перевод через Western Union

Пункты обслуживания Вестерн Юнион осуществляют деятельность в более чем 200 странах и территориях мира. Всего насчитывается около 550 000 филиалов. Система насчитывает более 150 миллионов клиентов. Международные денежные переводы ежегодно осуществляются на десятки миллиардов долларов. Перевод денег между странами через Вестерн Юнион осуществляется в 130 валютах мира.

Перевести деньги из одной страны в другую можно на банковскую дебетовую или кредитную карту, банковский счет, мобильный кошелек или в ближайший пункт обслуживания WU для получения наличными. Клиенты Western Union Online могут использовать веб-платформу или мобильное приложение для отправки денежного перевода за границу. 

Для осуществления операции необходимо зарегистрироваться в системе. После регистрации в Western Union денежный перевод становится доступным для отправки и получения через несколько минут. Для осуществления онлайн-перевода необходимо зайти в свой аккаунт Western Union на компьютере через сайт или на мобильном телефоне через приложение. Для того, чтобы забрать деньги в отделении банка или точке обслуживания системы, получателю необходимо предоставить документ, удостоверяющий личность. Режим и часы работы офисов Вестерн Юнион в разных городах могут отличаться. Размеры комиссий и курсы обмена валют можно уточнить на сайте системы. 

Мобильное приложение Western Union

Приложение Western Union (Вестерн Юнион) для мобильных устройств позволяет отправлять денежные переводы по всему миру в пункты обслуживания или на банковские счета, где бы вы ни находились и в любое время ежедневно круглосуточно в режиме 24/7.

Мобильное приложение Вестерн Юнион для смартфона можно скачать в магазине Google Play или Apple App Store.

Быстрый и безопасный вход в приложение может быть осуществлен по биометрическим данным — по отпечатку пальца одним касанием. Чтобы использовать банковскую карту для отправки и получения переводов WU, необходимо отсканировать в приложении с помощью камеры вашу кредитную или дебетовую карту. Функционал приложения позволяет настроить денежный перевод в нем, а завершить транзакцию, заплатив наличными в любом филиале по всему миру. С помощью мобильного приложения Western Union можно отслеживать совершенный перевод, смотреть комиссии, искать ближайший филиал системы. 

Комиссия за перевод и курс обмена валют Western Union

Комиссии за перевод в системе можно узнать на сайте в разделе «Отправить деньги» или в мобильном приложении, выбрав страну отправки и получения, а также сумму и валюту перевода. Western Union занимает не самые высокие позиции в рейтинге дешевых способов международных переводов денег. 

Комиссия за перевод Вестерн Юнион зависит от стран, способа отправки и получения, суммы и валюты. Комиссия при онлайн переводе, как правило, ниже, чем при оплате перевода и получения наличными в пункте обслуживания.

Western Union зарабатывает на разнице между средним курсом обмена валют в банках и обменных пунктах и собственным курсом обмена валют для клиентов. Курс валюты также может зависеть от способа отправки и получения денег, а также суммы. Обычно курсы обмена валют Western Union одни из самых невыгодных среди систем денежных переводов между странами.

Преимущества Western Union

• Крупнейшая в мире компания по международным денежным переводам.
• Широкая сеть пунктов обслуживания в 200 странах мира.
• Переводы в 130 валютах мира.
• Различные варианты оплаты перевода: наличными, банковской картой, банковским переводом и т.д.
• Перевод денег можно осуществить в пункте приема наличных, онлайн на сайте, в мобильном приложении. 
• Получить международный перевод можно в отделении банка, филиале Вестерн Юнион.
• Платформа Western Union имеет высокую степень защиты, использует самые современные протоколы безопасности, включая сегрегированные счета пользователей и HTTPS протоколы.

Недостатки Western Union

• Трудно определить полную плату за перевод, т.к. около 90% комиссий скрыты в наценке курса обмена валюты отправки в валюту получения.
• Не во всех странах доступны все способы перевода и получения денег.
• Разница обменного курса валют не обозначена точно.
• Чаще всего не самый дешевый сервис для переводов онлайн.
• Трудно найти ответ на интересующий вопрос на сайте системы.

С апреля 2022 года Western Union перестанет осуществлять денежные переводы внутри России, о чём компания сообщила в письме, направленном банкам-партнерам. Отказ от переводов внутри России объясняется их низкой востребованностью.

С 24 марта 2022г. лимит внутренних переводов будет снижен до 5 тыс. рублей. С 31 марта перевод внутри России через Western Union будет невозможен, а с 1 апреля нельзя будет получить выплату или возврат. Переводы, оформленные до 31 марта, но которые еще не были получены, можно вернуть в отделениях «Почты России».

Международная система Western Union (Вестерн Юнион), функционирует на рынке денежных переводов с 1851 года, то есть более 160 лет и осуществляет денежные переводы в любую точку планеты. Для каждого отправителя перевода важно, чтобы денежный перевод дошел до получателя быстро и с гарантией надежности. С этой задачей отлично справляются денежные переводы «Western Union » (Вестерн Юнион), которые по праву считаются одной из самых распространенных в мире систем денежных переводов. Western Union гарантирует быстрое и качественное оказание услуг.

Организатором системы денежных переводов является Американская Компания WesternUnion (NYSE: WU), которая осуществляет переводы денег по своей уникальной всемирной компьютерной сети с использованием новейших электронных технологий.

Международная система денежных переводов «Вестерн Юнион» (Western Union) позволяет быстро и просто отправлять и получать деньги по сети, которая насчитывает более 463000 пунктов обслуживания клиентов в более чем 200 странах и территориях мира. Пункты обслуживания Вестерн Юнион могут иметь адреса: банки, почтовые предприятия, магазины, обменные пункты, автозаправки и т.д.

Western Union (Вестерн Юнион) — Россия

На российский рынок система Western Union пришла в 1991 году, открыв дочернюю компанию ООО «Небанковская кредитная организация «Вестерн Юнион ДП Восток» (лицензия Банка России № 2726-С). Головной офис (банк) Вестерн Юнион ДП Восток расположен в Москве, где также находится справочно-информационный центр. Компания по России филиалов не имеет.

Общее количество пунктов обслуживания клиентов системы Western Union на территории России превышает 14000. В странах СНГ к сети Western Union подключено более 35000 точек приема и выплаты денежных переводов. Некоторые из них открыты круглосуточно и работают без выходных.

В России Бренд системы Western Union легко узнаваем, а логотип Western Union выглядит так:

Western Union Logo (Лого Вестерн Юнион)

В России денежные переводы Western Union (Вестер Юнион) осуществляются с помощью почти 500 банков и Почты России. Приведу некоторые банки России, которые предлагают клиентам переводы через систему Western Union (Вестерн Юнион), это: ВТБ 24, Альфа-Банк, Газпромбанк, «МДМ-Банк», Банк Москвы, КМБ-БАНК, Абсолют Банк, Банк «Возрождение», ВБРР, Балтинвестбанк, Проминвестбанк, Банк24.ру, Балтийский Банк, ОАО КБ «Восточный Экспресс» и т.д. Зная место расположение этих крупных банков адреса пунктов Вестерн Юнион найти легко.

А вот Сбербанк России и компания Western Union, хоть и подписали в 2011 году соглашение о предоставлении услуг международных денежных переводов в подразделениях Сбербанка России, но Сбербанк пока не предлагает клиентам переводы Вестерн Юнион.

На территории России денежные переводы Вестерн Юнион принимаются и выплачиваются в основном только наличными денежными средствами без открытия счёта. Валюта, в которой осуществляются переводы:

• По переводам в пределах России — российские рубли.
• По переводам в/из стран ближнего и дальнего зарубежья — доллары США или российские рубли (с конвертацией в валюту страны получения перевода).
• По переводам из стран Дальнего зарубежья через отделения Почты России — только российские рубли.

Конвертация денежных переводов в иностранную валюту или в рубли, осуществляется самой системой Wester Union по своим курсам обмена, что обеспечивает системе дополнительные доходы от этой процедуры.

Денежный безналичный перевод Вестерн Юнион можно отправить и с банковского счета отдельных банков, правда количество банков, оказывающих эту услугу крайне ограничено. Так, система предлагает следующие виды переводов:

1. Через Интернет-банк (Банк Авангард; ПриватБанк) — по стандартным правилам и условиям Western Union;
2. Через банкоматы (КредитЕвропаБанк).
3. Через терминалы самообслуживания Компании «Элекснет» (Петербургский социальный коммерческий банк) — .

Вестерн Юнион и Почта России

С 2007 года к денежным переводам Вестерн Юнион (Western Union) подключилась Почта России со своей уникальной сетью почтовых отделений. Правда Почта России, во избежание конкуренции с собственными услугами по почтовым переводам денег, осуществляет денежные переводы Вестерн Юнион только в страны дальнего зарубежья. Но даже это, значительно приближает всех Россиян, проживающих в самых отдаленных глубинках страны к мировой цивилизации. Более 3 060 почтовых отделений Почты России обслуживают переводы «Western Union» в страны Дальнего зарубежья и оттуда.

Почта России не осуществляет денежные переводы Вестернюнион по России и в следующих направлениях: Азербайджан, Армения, Беларусь, Эстония, Грузия, Казахстан, Республики Кыргызстан, Латвия, Литва, Молдова, Таджикистан, Туркменистан, Узбекистан и Украина.

Переводы Western Union через Почту России осуществляются только в российских рублях.

Тарифы Вестерн Юнион / Western Union

Размер стоимости денежного перевода устанавливается согласно тарифам Western Union и зависит от размера отправляемой суммы денег и валюты перевода.

Плата за денежный перевод по системе Western Union, взимается только с отправителя денежного перевода. С получателя перевода плата не взимается. В дополнение к тарифам на отправление денежных переводов в долларах США, система удерживает разницу между курсами обмена валют.

Тарифы на переводы установлены в следующих валютах:

• В рублях;
• В долларах США.

Тарифы на переводы подразделяются на два вида:

• Срочные.
• 12 часов*.

*Выплата денежного перевода «12 часов» осуществляется по истечении 12 часов с момента отправления.

Тарифы Western Union, введенные на денежные переводы и платежи с 15 апреля 2014 года, можно посмотреть здесь:

• Тарифы Western Union на переводы — в долларах США .
• Тарифы Вестерн Юнион — в российских рублях
• Тарифы на платежи за границу в пользу юридических лиц

Для таких стран, как КНР, Монголия, Гонконг, Тайвань, Маккао и Вьетнам установлены индивидуальные тарифы за переводы денежных средств.

При отправке перевода из России иногда необходимо представить документ, подтверждающий легальность происхождения иностранной валюты (таможенную декларацию или справку ф. 0406007).

Условия по переводам Western Union

Система “Вестерн Юнион” (Western Union) обеспечивают 3 принципиальных условия осуществления денежных переводов:

• Скорость перевода денег. Денежный перевод осуществляется за считанные минуты, на любое расстояние. Получить денежный перевод всего через несколько минут после его отправления, это на грани фантастики. Правда, при этом необходимо учитывать расписание работы пунктов выдачи денег и разницу во времени между часовыми поясами.
• Надежность перевода денег. Каждый денежный перевод “Вестерн Юнион” защищается надежной системой безопасности, которая гарантирует получение денег только указанному в переводе лицу. Денежный перевод сопровождается контрольным номером. Для отдельных нестандартных ситуаций применяется и тестирование в контрольном поле — «вопрос» и «ответ».
• Удобство перевода денег. Для осуществления денежного перевода “Вестерн Юнион” (WesternUnion) отправителю и получателю не нужно открывать счет в банке. Отправить или получить денежный перевод можно в любом из пунктов обслуживания ”Вестерн Юнион”, клиент не привязан к конкретному пункту. Это позволяет клиенту выбрать удобный пункт – большинство пунктов работает в удобное для клиентов время, в течение всей недели. Правда, в отдельных странах, предоставляются услуги только по выплате денежных переводов.

Как отправить перевод Western Union в России

Для оформления перевода отправителю требуется:

• Знать страну (и/или) город, где находится получатель,
• Полное имя получателя перевода
• Иметь документ, удостоверяющий личность,
• Иметь наличные денежные средства на перевод и комиссию.

Чтобы отправить Western Union, необходимо:

• Прийти в любой пункт обслуживания переводов Вестерн Юнион (отделение Банка-партнёра системы или Почты России). Для поиска ближайшего пункта обслуживания можно воспользоваться системой поиска на сайте системы.
• Заполнить бланк «Заявление для отправления денег» или краткую форму «Для отправления денег», указав в них полное имя получателя денег, страну и город получения перевода.
• Предъявить действительный документ, удостоверяющий личность и Золотую Карту «Western Union» (при наличии);
• Внести в кассу переводимую сумму и оплатить услугу по действующим тарифам;
• Получить у оператора свой экземпляр квитанции с контрольным номером денежного перевода и другие необходимые документы и сохранить квитанцию с контрольным номером денежного перевода (КНДП).
• Сообщить получателю сведения об отправке денежного перевода6 — имя отправителя (указанное в Системе), сумму перевода, страну отправления и КНДП, так как в некоторых странах его предоставление обязательно.

Стандартный бланк «Заявление для отправления денег» и порядок его заполнения можно посмотреть в разделе: Правила заполнения бланка перевода — «Заявление для отправления денег Western Union»

Как получить Western Union в России

Перевод можно получить в любом пункте обслуживания в стране назначения. Для получения перевода в большинстве стран отправителю потребуется:

• Удостоверение личности государственного образца с фотографией.
• Контрольный номер денежного перевода (КНДП).

Чтобы получить Western Union, необходимо:

• Проверить статус вашего денежного перевода, чтобы убедиться, что он доступен для получения.
• Посетить любой пункт обслуживания «Вестерн Юнион» (банк или почтовое отделение, имеющие логотип системы). Ближайший пункт обслуживания можно найти по системе поиска пунктов обслуживания на сайте ВЮ.
• Сообщить оператору пункта информацию о переводе или передать заполненное «Заявление для получения денег» или краткую форму «Для получения денег» с данными — контрольный номер денежного перевода (КНДП), полное имя отправителя, откуда отправлен денежный перевод и сумма перевода.
• Предъявить удостоверение личности.
• Подпишите квитанцию и другие необходимые документы и получите деньги.

Стандартный бланк «Заявление для получения денег» и порядок его заполнения можно посмотреть в разделе: Правила заполнения бланка перевода — «Заявление для получения денег Western Union»

Транслитерация русских слов при работе с Вестерн Юнион (Western Union)

У системы «Вестерн Юнион» есть одна особенность. При заполнении Фамилии, Имени и Отчества в Заявлениях на получение или отправления перевода, вся переписка с Центром обслуживания клиентов компании Western Union, а так же подбор точек обслуживания системы по всему миру осуществляются с помощью транслитерации русских слов, т.е. простое написание русских слов с использованием знаков латиницы, что для некоторых людей без таблицы затруднительно. Так, например, в переписке с системой Wester Union, Москва пишется как — Moskva, Санкт – Петербург пишется как — Sankt Peterburg, слово «вопрос» — как «vopros» и т.д.

Для удобства транслитерации (перевода) русских слов на латиницу привожу стандартную таблицу соответствия символов:

Таблицу можно посмотреть в любом пункте отправки перевода, а так как при отправлении перевода Вестерн Юнион ответственность за правильное написание имен получателя и отправителя несет отправитель, то без нее бланк лучше не заполнять. И еще, Имена и Фамилии в бланках надо указывать строго в соответствии с записью в паспорте.

Карта «Western Union Gold Card»

С целью роста конкурентоспособности и расширения рынка своих услуг, Компания Western Union с июля 2008 года запустила в России программу лояльности Western Union Gold Card для клиентов, неоднократно осуществляющих денежные переводы по системе Вестерн Юнион. Такая система лояльности действует уже в 65 странах мира. Программа лояльности Золотая карта Western Union®, направлена на поощрение постоянных клиентов системы начислением бонусов.

Программа лояльности Western Union Gold Card основана на внедрении специальных карт, которые позволяют сократить время обработки перевода и идентифицирование постоянных клиентов по базе данных. Карты Western Union (Золотые карты Western Union), это карты лояльности только для клиентов, регулярно отправляющих переводы по системе Western Union (более 1 раза в год). После каждого перевода денег с применением карты, клиенту начисляются бонусы, которые в дальнейшем можно использовать на удешевление стоимости очередного перевода.

О программе лояльности и принципах работы карты Western Union Gold Card можно ознакомиться в разделе: « Золотая карта Western Union Gold Card »

Ограничения или максимальная сумма перевода Western Union из России

• Клиент — резидент имеет право отправить перевод в иностранной валюте за границу, в максимальной сумме, не превышающей 5000 долларов США.
• Перевод денег может быть осуществлен Клиентом-резидентом не более одного раза в один операционный день «на текущие расходы» без представления подтверждающих документов.
• Запрещаются переводы в коммерческих или предпринимательских целях, для покупки недвижимости или осуществления инвестиционной деятельности.
• Клиент- нерезидент вправе отправить перевод в пределах максимальной суммы, установленной Системой «Вестерн Юнион» или в пределах сумм, допустимых к получению в стране получения;
• Максимальная сумма денежного перевода с грифом «Срочный» не ограничена, с грифом «12 часов» — не более 100,000.00 (сто тысяч) рублей или 3,000.00 (три тысячи) долларов США.

Банки и Почта России принимают и выдают денежные переводы при предъявлении следующих документов, удостоверяющих личность:

1. Для граждан Российской Федерации.

   • Внутренний общегражданский паспорт или документ его заменяющий;
   • Удостоверение личности офицера или военный билет (для военнослужащих РФ);
   • Паспорт моряка (удостоверение личности моряка);

2. Для иностранных граждан.
   • Паспорт иностранного гражданина либо иной документ, установленный Федеральным законом или признаваемый в соответствии с международным договором Российской Федерации в качестве документа, удостоверяющего личность иностранного гражданина + вид на жительство в Российской Федерации для постоянно проживающих иностранных граждан.

3. Для лиц без гражданства.
   • Документ, выданный иностранным государством и признаваемый в соответствии с международным договором Российской Федерации в качестве документа, удостоверяющего личность лица без гражданства;
   • разрешение на временное проживание или вид на жительство на территории Российской Федерации.

Ошибки оформления, которые приводят к блокировке перевода

При оформлении перевода случаются и ошибки, которые могут заблокировать выдачу денежного перевода получателю. Выдача перевода блокируется в следующих случаях:

• Допущена ошибка при заполнении Ф.И.О. получателя или отправителя денежного перевода.
• Допущена ошибка при передаче Контрольного Номера Денежного Перевода
• оператор пункта приема денежных переводов перепутал при передаче данных ФИО получателя и отправителя средств.
  Такие ошибки исправляются при посещении отправителем пункта перевода, из которого производилось отправление, и предъявлении копии бланка с указанием Контрольного Номера Денежного Перевода.

Ошибки и тонкости оформления переводов Вестерн Юнион

Существуют и некоторые тонкости при оформлении переводов Вестерн Юнион:

• Невостребованный перевод находится в системе Вестерн Юнион в течение 4 месяцев. В этот период отправитель всегда может его отозвать. Затем перевод передается в архив системы или возвращается отправителю. Из архива его получить тоже можно, но это более сложная и длительная процедура с написанием заявления о восстановлении перевода.
• Отправленную, но еще не полученную получателем сумму денежного перевода можно, в случае необходимости возвратить, посетив пункт перевода, из которого производилось отправление. При себе необходимо иметь копию бланка с указанием Контрольного Номера Денежного Перевода и удостоверение личности. Комиссионное вознаграждение за денежный перевод не возвращается.
• В целях выполнения требований Федерального закона № 115-ФЗ от 07.08.2001 г. «О противодействии легализации (отмыванию) доходов, полученных преступным путем, и финансированию терроризма», при осуществлении переводов по системам Western Union, плательщику необходимо указывать в заявлении фамилию, имя и отчество, а также адрес места жительства (регистрации) или места пребывания. При отсутствии данной информации банки будут отказывать плательщику в отправлении перевода.
• Денежные переводы «Вестер Юнион» разрешены только для личных нужд и не могут быть использованы в коммерческих или предпринимательских целях, для покупки недвижимости или инвестиционных целей.

Дополнительные уточнения о денежных переводах Western Union можно получить так:

• В Центре обслуживания клиентов Western Union по телефонам: Москва — (495) 797- 21- 97, регионы России – 8 (800)200 – 22 — 32;
• На сайте системы Вестерн Юнион (проверить статус перевода, уточнить тарифы, выбрать пункт обслуживания системы по всему миру;
• На сайте Почты России — список отделений Почтовой связи, обслуживающих переводы Вестерн Юнион.

Последнее обновление статьи осуществлено 16.06.2014 г.