How To Receive Western Union Payments In Kenya

Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday August 1, 2013 at 17:28:22:

Western Union is an international company which is headquartered in the United States. One of the great services it offers people is the ability to transfer funds efficiently and effectively across the world including Kenya. It has various divisions with products such as person-to-person money transfer, money orders, business payments and commercial services.

Western Union is among the most popular forms of transferring goods and most especially cash across continents. In Kenya, Western Union is among the most commonly used means of receiving money sent abroad. This is due to high levels of convenience involved in using it and the fact that it is very safe.

In Kenya, western Union branches are most commonly found in prominent banks found in various banks. It has few competitors as it is easier to use than most international money transfer services. The process of withdrawing money sent from one individual to another is the same whether the sender is in the country or is outside the country. The only difference that arises is during the process of filling the form, the receiver has to indicate the country the money is sent from and if its from a local town, the receiver indicates the town or city.

In order to withdraw money from a western union branch in Kenya one has to follow the following instructions. First, the receiver must be of legal age, that is they must be at least eighteen years. The sender during the process of sending is given a unique code and also hands in a security question of choice and its answer too. This helps in ensuring that only the person who knows these two things is able to retrieve the money.

In order to receive payments, one must present themselves to a registered western union branch carrying their national identity cards or passports. Once there, the person receiving the money is handed in a form which they fill in their personal information and transactions details which include the unique code which the sender is given upon sending the money and the security question together with its answer and also the expected amount of money in the currency in which it was sent in. However, western Union automatically converts foreign currencies into the Kenyan shilling and hence the receiver is given the money in Kenyan shillings.

After filling the form and signing it, the person then hands it in together with their national identity card or passport to the Western Union official who is facilitating the transaction who first verifies the information given and also verifies that the credentials handed in are legal and satisfactory. The official then searches the system for the specific order presented by the person and if there are any errors that can be corrected, they assist the person in doing that. However, one important thing is that the names in the form presented must match those which the sender gives and if they differ, the money cannot be withdrawn until the sender corrects the mistake. However, if everything checks out, the agent hands in the amount sent to the receiver who then verifies it and after confirming it, he is asked to sign so as to verify that they have withdrawn and after is given a copy of the transaction documents and the agent retains a copy too. The receiver then exits the western union branch having received their payment.