Western Union fees in Ireland: How much do you pay?

Western Union is an international company that enables people in Ireland and around the globe to convert and send money abroad.¹ It’s long been held as a viable way to complete international transfers, but it’s important to understand what you’ll be charged for using their services.

To that end, we’re going to delve into the fees and charges for using Western Union in Ireland both online and in person. We’ll also introduce you to Wise, an alternative provider who does things a little bit differently.

Send money to
160+ countries with Wise💰

Understanding Western Union fees in Ireland

To initiate a transfer with Western Union you can do it online using their app or website, or visit an authorised partner location in person. There’s differences between the fees charged for each option that you’ll want to be aware of.

Western Union money transfer fees in Ireland

When you send money with Western Union you’ll pay a fee each time you make a transfer. In addition to this, they also make money on the exchange rate.² We’ll go into that later.

Western Union online fees

When sending money online with Western Union the fees can vary depending on the destination country, your pay in method and the payout method to the recipient.

The good news is there doesn’t seem to be any variation between what it costs for you to organise the transfer through the app or using the website.

To give you an idea of what the Western Union online fees are like, here’s a real world example of what it could cost to send 1000 EUR from Ireland to a GBP bank account in the United Kingdom. For some additional context, we’ve also added what it would cost when sending money with Wise.

As seen on 2nd August 2023 at 5:05 pm (GMT+3) on Western Union and Wise website.

🔎 As you can see the fees for Wise are higher so it seems like Western Union would be the cheaper option, but Western Union exchange rate is responsible, in this case, for lowering the amount that the beneficiary will receive.

We’ll come back to this point later, for now let’s take a look at the fees for sending money in person.

Western Union fees for sending money in person

To facilitate sending money in person, Western Union partners with independent businesses around the world who provide money transfer services on their behalf. In Ireland, FEXCO and An Post provide this service.³

When you send money in person you’ll need to complete a form and pay the agent the amount you want to send, plus any fees.

The recipient will also have to complete a form if they need to collect their fund in person, for example if it is a cash payout.

Let’s take a look at some of the fees charged at An Post for sending various amounts of money using the Western Union system.

🔎 You’ll notice that these fees are vastly different to what Western Union charges online and increase as the amount you send does.

Western Union exchange rate and fees

Earlier we mentioned that Western Union makes money on the exchange rate². What this means is that rather than using the mid-market rate exchange rate, like Wise does, they add a profit margin to it so that they’re charging more than it costs for them to exchange the funds.

Going back to the comparison we did before, here’s what the exchange rates were for sending 1000 EUR from Ireland to a GBP bank account in the UK.

As seen on 2nd August 2023 at 5:05 pm (GMT+3) on Western Union and Wise website.

As you can see the exchange rate for Wise is more favourable. To give you an idea of how this helps you, let’s change our example up a little bit. This time we’ll see what you’d need to send from Ireland in order for the UK recipient to receive exactly 1000 GBP.

As seen on 2nd August 2023 at 5:35 pm (GMT+3) on Western Union and Wise website

💡 For both payment methods Wise is cheaper, despite having higher fees, due to using the mid-market exchange rate (the same you see on Google).

Wise does not include any markup and doesn't make money on the currency conversion, meaning you get a fair exchange rate in all conversions (sending money, card transactions, etc).

Additional fees of Western Union in Ireland

Registering with Western Union is free so you don’t need to worry about any fees there. One thing to consider is that the recipient's bank might charge something for receiving the funds.

Send money to 160+ countries with Wise

Rather than using Western Union to handle your international money transfers, you could give Wise a try. With Wise you can:

• Send money to 160+ countries
• Exchange your money at the mid-market rate (the same you see on Google)
• No hidden fees or markups to worry about
• The whole process is done online via website or app

To give yourself even more options, you could register for the Wise Account. As well as being able to send money, you can also hold and convert money in over 40 different currencies and get local account details for 9+ of those.

With a Wise Account you also have the option to order a Wise debit card. This card makes spending money abroad as simple as it is at home because it uses smart technologies to automatically convert money from the required currency and only does currency conversions when necessary.

As well as physical cards Wise also offers virtual cards⁵ for added convenience, and you can them to your mobile wallets.

Open your Wise Account today 🚀

FAQ: Western Union fees in Ireland

How much are Western Union fees in Ireland?

The fees for Western Union vary depending on the currency, pay in, payout and how the transfer is initiated.

In general you’re looking at less than €3 for online transfers and a fee that increases as the sending amount does for in person transfers.

Are Western Union fees different for online and in-person transfers in Ireland?

Yes, there is a big difference in the cost for online and in person transfers. If you’re certain you want to use Western Union then it will likely be cheaper to do it online rather than going to a store.

What are the charges for sending large amounts of money through Western Union in Ireland?

According to Western Union you should be able to send any amount of money that you want.³ There aren’t any mentions on their website of additional fees or charges that are applied on top of the transfer fee for large amounts, nor are there any given transfer limits. You could confirm this by contacting Western Union Ireland directly.

Something you should know is that if you send or receive more than €15,000 a year you’ll need to provide some additional information or documentation. This is to meet Irish government regulations that were put in place to help keep international transactions secure.

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