These Are the Best Alternatives to Western Union in 2024

Western Union is the world's largest and oldest money transfer company. Active globally, it supports remittances and money transfers to over 130 currencies in over 200 countries and territories. Moreover, Western Union supports multiple pay-in and pay-out methods, from bank transfers to cash transfers and mobile money deposits. There's no denying the fact that Western Union is a behemoth when it comes to money transfers.

However, despite its unparalleled coverage and user base, Western Union is often not the best option for international transfers due to the fees and exchange rate margins that accompany its transfers.

This guide helps you save money by ranking and reviewing the seven best alternatives to Western Union, allowing you to send money internationally more cheaply, no matter your needs and preferences!

To find out more about Western Union and its strengths and weaknesses, be sure to give Monito's video review a watch:

Wise — Best for Bank Transfers

Though much younger than Western Union, Wise has nonetheless become extremely popular in recent years for its easy-to-use and low-cost platform for international money transfers. In fact, Wise frequently ranks as the cheapest way to transfer abroad on Monito. Like Western Union, it supports transfers to dozens of foreign currencies worldwide, but unlike WU, it's among the best money transfer services of all on Monito (compare WU's 7.5/10 to Wise's 9.5/10 on our Monito Score ranking) and its mobile app is ranked the best money transfer app. For more, see our side-by-side Western Union vs Wise comparison.

Similarities to WU: You can send money online to a foreign bank account.

Differences to WU: It's usually significantly cheaper.

Cost: Approx. 0.25% - 1%

Coverage: Available in the EEA, UK, US, Singapore, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand and supports transfers to around 57 foreign currencies across the globe.

Speed: 52% of transfers arrive within 20 seconds, 71% within an hour, and 90% within a 24-hour period.¹

Transfer limits: Precise limits vary depending on currency and country, but generally, the minimum transfer is just one US dollar, and the maximum transfer is USD million or currency equivalent.

More info: See our full Wise review or visit the website.

¹ Q2 2022 Mission Update: Speed

Remitly — Best for Cash Pick-Up

Remitly is a US-based digital remittance app that's very often the fastest and cheapest money transfer app on Monito. Like Western Union, Remitly offers various pay-in and pay-out options and supports currency transfers to over 85 countries worldwide, but unlike Western Union, it's often 2 to 5 times cheaper! See our side-by-side WU vs Remitly comparison to learn more about how the two differ.

Similarities to WU: You can send money to cash pick-up, bank deposit, or mobile wallet deposit.

Differences to WU: It's usually cheaper, especially for cash transfers.

Cost: Approx. 0.5% - 2%

Coverage: Available in Europe, North America, Singapore, and Australia and supports transfers to around 47 currencies.

Speed: Remitly 'Economy' bank transfers take between three and five business days to arrive, while 'Express' card transfers arrive within minutes.

Transfer limits: Exact limits vary depending on currency and country, but generally, the minimum transfer is USD 1, and the maximum transfer is USD 20,000, or currency equivalent.

More info: See our full Remitly review or visit the website.

WorldRemit — Best for Mobile Money

WorldRemit is a UK-based online remittance provider that offers the best way to transfer money internationally to diverse regions globally, including Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America — often being the cheapest transfer app to these countries. Like WU, Remitly, and Wise, WorldRemit lets you send money to mobile wallets in countries overseas (in addition to cash pick-up and bank deposits). However, its rates are generally excellent for this transfer type. See our side-by-side Western Union vs WorldRemit comparison to learn more about how the two differ.

Similarities to WU: You can send money to cash pick-up, bank deposit, or mobile wallet deposit.

Differences to WU: It's usually cheaper, especially for mobile wallet transfers.

Cost: Approx. 1% - 2.5%

Coverage: Available in 56 countries and transfers to as many as 150 foreign currencies.

Speed: Depending on the pay-in methods, payout methods, and countries involved, WorldRemit transfers take anywhere between a few seconds and a few working days to arrive.

Transfer limits: USD 1 - USD 9,000 in the US and GBP 1 - GBP 50,000 in the UK.

More info: See our full WorldRemit review or visit the website.

Revolut — Best for Card Transfers

One of the most widely used money apps in the world, Revolut Money Transfer is a user-friendly platform that supports credit and debit card payments.

Once you open an account and download the mobile app, all you need to do is navigate to the money transfer page. Input the number of the debit or credit card that you want to send money to, confirm the recipient's name and email, and set the transfer amount. The interface is straightforward and easy to navigate, making it an ideal service for card transfers.

In addition to money transfers, Revolut's mobile app offers a multi-currency account in over 29 currencies, features to help you save money, budget tracking software, and more. Paid plans include travel insurance, travel perks, and higher fee-free allowances for foreign exchange, money transfers, and international ATM withdrawals.

Similarities to WU: Supports online money transfers.

Differences to WU: You can send money to somebody's card.

Bank Transfer Cost: 0.2% - 2.0%

Card Transfer Cost: 0.7% if inside European region, or 2.3% if outside European region.

Coverage: Available from most major currencies to around 28 others worldwide.

Speed: Within 1 business day.

Transfer limits: Up to USD 1 billion or currency equivalent.

More info: See our Revolut Money Transfer review or visit the website.

XE Money Transfer — Best for Coverage

The world's oldest online money transfer company, XE Money Transfer is widely-known in the world of currency exchange and often offers the best way to transfer money internationally in terms of the number of foreign currencies and countries it covers.

Similarities to WU: The online interface looks similar; it's old-school but robust and quite easy to use.

Differences to WU: It's usually cheaper.

Cost: Approx 0.9%

Coverage: Available globally and supports transfers to 98 foreign currencies.

Speed: 1 - 3 business days.

Transfer limits: USD 1 - USD 500,000.

More info: See our full XE review or visit the website.

OFX — Best for Large Transfers

A specialist in large money transfers, OFX is a foreign exchange broker rather than a money transfer platform, meaning that its services are more personalized toward the needs of individual customers. However, you should be making a large transfer (i.e. more than USD 15,000 or equivalent) for OFX to be better-priced than apps like Wise and Remitly.

Similarities to WU: You can send money to over 170 countries.

Differences WU: It's cheaper, especially for very large transfers.

Cost: Approx 0.4% - 1%

Coverage: Available in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, the US, the EU, Singapore, and Hong Kong. It supports transfers to an impressive 190 countries in over 50 foreign currencies.

Speed: 2 - 5 business days.

Transfer limits: USD 2,000 - USD 2 billion.

More info: See our full OFX review or visit the website.

How to Find the Cheapest WU Alternative

It's worth stressing that there are many Western Union alternatives, and no single one will necessarily be better than Western Union for every person in every instance. Overall, however, the money transfer apps we outlined above will, on average, be cheaper than Western Union and give additional benefits as well.

However, changing from Western Union to another provider, there are a few other rules of thumb to keep in mind to ensure that you save every extra dollar when sending money internationally for everyday use. These include:

• Open bank accounts that don't charge additional fees for international money transfers. Take a look at our list of the best banks for international travel to find out more.
• Avoid using a credit or debit card to fund your money transfer. If you do, then Revolut is the best option.
• Make sure you choose a safe and fully-licensed money transfer service. All services on Monito adhere to the highest security standards and are among the safest ways to send money internationally.
• Avoid using big banks and PayPal, which are practically never the cheapest way to send (or receive) money overseas.
• Where possible, send money to a bank account or a mobile wallet rather than to a cash pick-up location.
• If you're looking for the cheapest way to exchange money with cash, avoid doing so at bureaux de change or airports.
• Where possible, send one large transfer instead of multiple smaller ones. Larger transfers almost always incur lower percentage fees than smaller transfers. Learn more about making sizeable international money transfers here and about how much you can send internationally here.
• Choose a longer transfer speed if it reduces your fees.

Best Alternatives to Western Union By Country

Western Union is especially popular for sending money to countries like India, Mexico, and the Philippines in particular. According to millions of searches on Monito, here are the best alternatives to Western Union for transfers to these three countries in general:

• Mexico: WorldRemit is the best alternative to Western Union to Mexico. It's usually the cheapest money transfer app to Mexico from the countries where WU is available.
• India: XE Money Transfer is the best alternative to Western Union to India, as it's normally the cheapest money transfer app to Mexico from the countries where WU is available.
• The Philippines: The best alternative to Western Union to the Philippines, Instarem is typically the cheapest money transfer app to Mexico from the countries where WU is available.

It's important to remember that it's impossible to send money internationally for free and that every currency exchange comes with a cost. However, not all money transfer services are created equal, and some charge you considerably lower fees than others. Monito has reviewed and compared hundreds of money transfer services to simplify your research. Compare them in real-time using our award-winning comparison engine below: