To receive money at a Western Union store, you need to have a few things with you to confirm your identity as the correct receiver. The most important of all being a government ID that proves you as the receiver.
One of the common issues while receiving money are related to the ID. In many cases, receivers don’t have an ID because they are not adults, or the ID’s they do have are expired and are not accepted at the store.
But what if you have a digital form of your ID. Can you pick up money from Western Union with a picture of your ID?
Can I pick up money from Western Union with a picture of my ID?
Yes, that is possible. If you have a picture of a valid ID that matches your name you can receive the funds at the store. I have personally used picture ID to receive money in the past, and there was no issue.
What kind of IDs are Accepted
Any kind of ID that matches your name exactly as it appears on the transfer should be able to do the job. Western Union requires the ID to be issued by the government, and needs to be valid. Examples include Drivers license, state ID or social security.
To know more about ID requirements to receive funds read this article.
How does Western Union cash pickup work?
The process of transferring funds through Western Union is really simple. Once a transfer has been sent. The sender is supposed to give you an MTCN (Money transfer control number) as an identifier of the transfer.
This MTCN is used to track, pay or update the transfer if needed. You can go to Western Union’s Track a transfer page to check if your transfer is available for pickup.
Picking Up the Funds
Once you are sure the transfer is available for pickup. You can choose any one of Western Union’s nearest stores to collect the funds.
Here are a few details you might need about the transfer.
- The MTCN
- Name of Sender
- State/Country it was sent from
- The phone number of the sender.
Depending on the store you choose, the agents might ask you all or a few of the details above. It’s good to have these details handy just in case the agent at the store needs them.
How long does it take to receive money from Western Union?
How much time a Western Union transfer takes depends on how your sender paid for it. Here is the expected arrival time for each payment method.
Cash or Debit/Credit Card
If your sender has paid in cash at a store or made the transfer digitally using a debit of credit. You should expect the transfer to be available within minutes at any of your nearest Western Union stores. This particular transfer is known as Money in Minutes.
Since the processing times are really short, the transfer fee on these transfers is usually high.
Bank Account
If your sender sent you money through his bank account or to your bank account. The transfer can take 0-4 business days to complete. The processing times of these transfers are definitely much higher, but they give you the cheapest transfer fee.
How long can money stay in Western Union before picking it up?
Once a transfer has been sent. Western Union keeps it available for the receiver for up to 90 days. After 3 months pass, the transfer can only be requested by the sender as a refund.
Access for the receiver is restricted for such transfers after 90 days have been passed. To know more about the time limit to receive a western union read this article.
