Western Union Myself some Cash - What kind of ID's needed

[DELTAFOXTROT 44]

When I travel to Philippines I always send myself like $900 and $800 to western union and leave it there for emergencies or grab when needed. I only show my Passport Card to pick it up.

 

I am hearing now if you do over $1K or like 50,000 Pesos the (Western Union place) wants like secondary ID's like Police Clearance and Mayor ID?

 

Any one having that issue when getting more than 50K pesos from WU?

[J.M. 227]

Sending over $1K USD can sometimes trigger the requirement for additional identification or answering questions about the sender.  It really depends on which location it is picked up.  It's quite easy to avoid the potential problem by breaking it up into smaller amounts.  Since your timeline is blank, it is impossible to know if you are a LPR Filipino, a USC, a dual-citizen, or something else that I cannot guess.  Since you say "passport card" I will assume you are a USC.  If so, then the only identification WU requires is your passport.  USCs are not expected to have any form of Filipino ID unless you live in the Philippines.

 

Please complete your timeline if you want to receive useful responses.

[DELTAFOXTROT 44]

1 hour ago, J.M. said:

Sending over $1K USD can sometimes trigger the requirement for additional identification or answering questions about the sender.  It really depends on which location it is picked up.  It's quite easy to avoid the potential problem by breaking it up into smaller amounts.  Since your timeline is blank, it is impossible to know if you are a LPR Filipino, a USC, a dual-citizen, or something else that I cannot guess.  Since you say "passport card" I will assume you are a USC.  If so, then the only identification WU requires is your passport.  USCs are not expected to have any form of Filipino ID unless you live in the Philippines.

 

Please complete your timeline if you want to receive useful responses.

Yes I am US Citizen

 

I am now thinking this is local issue only and not required by Western Union since there website only mentions you need a tracking # and valid govt. ID.  I guess this depends on whom owns the Western Union place and internal policies.

 

I was made aware of all the other hoops they make Philippines citizens jump thru just to collect $.  

 

I have been asked for my signature 3 times on piece of paper getting money before in Philippines at a Western Union place, I don't know what signature they were going to try to match it to.

 

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

On 9/2/2024 at 3:07 AM, DELTAFOXTROT said:

When I travel to Philippines I always send myself like $900 and $800 to western union and leave it there for emergencies or grab when needed. I only show my Passport Card to pick it up.

 

I am hearing now if you do over $1K or like 50,000 Pesos the (Western Union place) wants like secondary ID's like Police Clearance and Mayor ID?

 

Any one having that issue when getting more than 50K pesos from WU?

Why not just bring cash? Cash has a better exchange rate and no fees. If you insist on sending to yourself Western Union should be lower in your list of choices. Sendwave or Remitly both have better rates and fees. I pretty much only use Sendwave at this point.

[top_secret 2,387]

A free checking account at Schwab Bank remains about the best way to get pocket money while traveling in the Philippines or just about any other country.  Not only do they not charge any conversion fees at all, they even rebate the P250 fee the ATM's charge. 

[DELTAFOXTROT 44]

2 hours ago, top_secret said:

A free checking account at Schwab Bank remains about the best way to get pocket money while traveling in the Philippines or just about any other country.  Not only do they not charge any conversion fees at all, they even rebate the P250 fee the ATM's charge. 

I got Schwabb account a few years ago, Issue is you can only withdraw so much per day, Seems like it is 10,000 peso per transaction and you can only do 5 transactions per day, I do carry it now since they have more and more ATM Machines in the Philippines now of days. 

 

But if you withdraw too much money from Schwabb account they will close your account, but for normal person taking a couple trips to Philippines per year this shouldn't happen to you.  

[DELTAFOXTROT 44]

5 hours ago, RO_AH said:

Why not just bring cash? Cash has a better exchange rate and no fees. If you insist on sending to yourself Western Union should be lower in your list of choices. Sendwave or Remitly both have better rates and fees. I pretty much only use Sendwave at this point.

I try to enter with about $5K of $100 bills that are clean and not torn or marked, and I will bring in about 30,000 peso in mosty 1000 peso, I keep the western union as back up in case I get robbed or pickpockted, and will only get it toward the end of my trip, it's my emergency funds.  Never used a Sendwave or Remitly I think those are tied to a bank account and don't want to disclose my bank information to a stranger.  

 

[top_secret 2,387]

2 minutes ago, DELTAFOXTROT said:

got Schwabb account a few years ago, Issue is you can only withdraw so much per day, Seems like it is 10,000 peso per transaction and you can only do 5 transactions per day, I do carry it now since they have more and more ATM Machines in the Philippines now of days. 

 

BPI ATM's will let you do 20k if you hit "other amount" and then key it in manually.  I never got shut down so far doing two 20k withdrawals back to back.  I haven't tried pushing it past that.  HSBC ATM's might give you 40k but there's not so many of them.   Schwab also gives you some amount of free wire transfers if you are talking big bucks but someone needs a local bank account to receive.

[DELTAFOXTROT 44]

16 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

BPI ATM's will let you do 20k if you hit "other amount" and then key it in manually.  I never got shut down so far doing two 20k withdrawals back to back.  I haven't tried pushing it past that.  HSBC ATM's might give you 40k but there's not so many of them.   Schwab also gives you some amount of free wire transfers if you are talking big bucks but someone needs a local bank account to receive.

I thought Schwabb had the limit set at $1,000 USD per day, but never confirmed that with Schwabb.