MoneyGram/WU integration

Would be great to have MG/WU integration for both incoming and transfers. Here’s why:
SEPA works exclusively in Europe.
SWIFT is expensive for the receiver or sender (if it’s not Revolut) and takes lots of time
Revolut is not available out of Europe.

Can help in case of:
Too much cash at one point and you need them urgently in card (transfer in)
Lost card(s) and you need cash (transfer out) ASAP

I’m traveling for 20 months already and I’ve sent money mysel at least 8 times for various reasons (from card chip broken and needed cash, to sending some friends money to book them tickets) Currently I can sill do that with WU with my bank but WU is expensive and works over the counter only.

MG is way cheaper and works even online with card payment. And again, rev.me is very limited too.

Another thing which happened two months ago was that I had an emergency and lost over 1.5k$ and urgently needed 200$ to book a last minute flight. Rev.me didn’t worked because the card was “not issued in a supported country” so my friend ended giving me the card details to book the ticket. MG could fix this fast.

And another thing happened when the same friend lost his wallet in a taxi (all debit and credit cards) and went cashless. In this case I could help him by transferring money to my account and I give him in cash. Was not possible…

As long as we have a non european buddy things get complicated.

For example now we’re heading again to party islands. So we took some precautions in case of lost cards/ money with a payment via PP then to my bank. But it’s slow and not good for emergency in any case…

Ps. I’ve made a GCash account for Spotify for 2€/m and a way to avoid taxes while in Philippines and they also have MG and WU. But I won’t use them after I’ll leave PH (except for Spotify) :confused:

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Problem with using external payment networks such as MoneyGram and Western Union is that there is increased costs.

Situation would be like :r: using American Express. It’s possible on a technical level, but AMEX charges high fees.

Amex is limited (and dunno really how would help). Especially in developing countries (which seems to be favorites for travelers :laughing:) where MG/WU are at any corner (due to high labor emigration which sends money to their beloved relatives at home).

And even for me as user if it’s costly, when is about emergency doesn’t really matter…

I’m talking about this as a backup option. There are many situations (especially in SE Asia and South America where you need no effort to get robbed) when you lose your wallet and need cash without a card.

Once I used the hotel POS for “cash withdrawal” without physically having the card, but not all hotels would accept this :confused:

And btw. Dunno if it would be costly for Revolut, I think they can even earn commission. It would be costly for the user but as I said, who cares when is emergency :rotating_light: and there’s no other option…

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AmEx is expensive for merchant, not user or bank/e-finance. Actually issuing AmEx would make sense for Revolut as they would get more merchant fees but:

  1. Why would user get a limited acceptance card rather than MasterCard? He would need some incentive. Like cashback on portion on increased merchant fees or the card itself could be free to issue and ship.
  2. AmEx might not be interested in Revolut deal.
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The whole point of the idea is an emergency cardless alternative so AmEx is entirely useless in this story.
Even with premium and 3 days delivery, my card took 10 to arrive. 10 days in which if you’re traveling far away and you’re cashless, you’re broken, at all. And is not advisable to have much money in cash in some parts of the world…

indeed totally agree :+1:

Did you try using WU/MG website with virtual card from Revolut?

MG should work but WU doesn’t have online payment.

Just checked: https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-money/app/start allows to pay with credit card.

Just for US cards.

MG doesn’t accept card payment in Romania for example. Differs by region. But MG accepts card payments from UK so assuming the Revolut BIN is UK should work. Still, not an entirely functional option.

https://www.westernunion.com/gb/en/send-money/app/start allows card payments as well

Interesting. So half of the problem is fixed.

What about accepting WU/MG MTCN/code in Revolut in case we have to help a travel buddy?

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Yes if accept WU MTCN it will great!
In Portugal the millenium bcp bank accept WU MTCN deposits

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Most banks accept incoming MTCN and sending via WU or MG :grimacing:
And if you look on travel groups you’ll find out That’s extremely useful when needed.

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You may be able to get MG/WU with option “to bank account” to deposit to GBP IBAN. Never tried it and most likely it’s not fast even if it works at all.

The transfer to BANK îs not instant. It takes tai days at least…

Would also be nice if Revolut could enrol into the MasterCard World Elite package so we could get cash advances from WU in the event we lost our card abroad.

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