This Privacy Statement describes how Western Union collects, uses, stores, protects, discloses, and shares your personal information or data when you use our Services online through our website, in retail, and through our mobile apps, as well as your choices about the way your information is collected and used. “Personal information” means all information or data relating to an identified or identifiable individual.
When you use our services, including our banking and money transfer services; contact us; access our websites or applications; or join our loyalty programs (collectively, the “Services”), we collect personal information about you and may use it along with other information collected or generated during our relationship with you. We collect different types of personal information relating to you, which may include:
In order to open and maintain a WU+ bank account, conduct a money transfer, or use other payment services, you must provide certain information required by Western Union to provide the financial services requested and to enable us to comply with our legal obligations associated with transferring money. Failure to provide some of your personal information may affect our ability to provide our Services to you. This may include information about the form of identification used to request financial services (where required by law) including the identification or a copy of the identification document, transaction activity, bank account, and payment information.
Western Union collects your personal information in several ways:
In addition to the personal information we collect from you, we may also collect your personal information from the person to whom you send and/or receive money, as well as our Agents, vendors, business partners, identity verification companies, payments and fraud risk management companies, law enforcement bodies, and commercial and public data sources.
We endeavor to use organizational, technical, and administrative safeguards that comply with applicable government laws and regulations to secure your personal information. We also endeavor to restrict access to the personal information that we process to only our employees, Agents, and representatives that have a business need to know it. Despite our efforts, third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions sent to us or may wrongly instruct you to disclose personal information to them while posing as Western Union.
While Western Union is committed to securing the Services and related systems, you are responsible for providing accurate and current information to Western Union and for maintaining the security of the passwords and account and/or registration information that you use to access the Services. Please contact us immediately in accordance with the “CONTACTING US” section if you have reason to believe your personal information held by Western Union may be at risk.
We use internet technologies like cookies, tags, and web beacons on our websites, in mobile applications, or when you visit a third-party website for which Western Union provides online Services for a variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, those identified in the section titled “HOW WESTERN UNION USES THE PERSONAL INFORMATION IT COLLECTS”.
Western Union has implemented the capability for the user to manage cookies on our websites. We will only read or write cookies based on your preference level.
Do Not Track (DNT) is an optional browser setting that allows you to express your preferences regarding tracking by advertisers and other third-parties. We do not respond to DNT signals.
For more information on how Western Union uses cookies please click the “Cookie Information” link in the footer of the applicable Western Union webpage.
Western Union utilizes the personal information it collects for the following commercial purposes:
Western Union may use your personal information as explained elsewhere in this Statement for each of the following legal bases:
Western Union will also, subject to your preferences, notify you of offers, promotions, and updates regarding our products and Services. These may include offers by email, telephone, postal mail, SMS, social media, and other communication or digital channels.
You can opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time. If you no longer want to receive marketing-related communications from us, you may opt out by following the instructions in the relevant electronic communication or by contacting us as described in the “CONTACTING US” section.
Please note that if you opt out of receiving marketing-related communications from us, we may still send you important service, administrative, or transaction-related communications.
Western Union does not direct our Services or products at children under the age of 18. Western Union does not knowingly collect or maintain information from our retail, website, or mobile apps from persons under the age of 18
Western Union’s websites may be linked to or from third party websites. Western Union has not reviewed, does not control, and is not responsible for the content or privacy practices employed by websites that are linked to or from our website. Western Union does not assume responsibility for any of these sites, their content, or their privacy policies. Western Union does not endorse third party websites or make any warranties about any information, software, or other products or materials you may find there, or any results that may be obtained from using them.
For any of the purposes listed in this Statement, Western Union may disclose applicable personal information including, but not limited to, your name, contact information, national identification number and/or related documentation, customer ID number, address, transaction details and patterns, and bank account information to the following types of organizations or parties:
We may transmit personal information we possess in connection with a sale or transfer of all or part of our business. We may also disclose your personal information globally, as required or permitted by applicable laws and regulations, to regulatory and financial authorities, credit reporting agencies, law enforcement bodies, courts, governments, or government agencies to meet compliance and legal obligations or to assert or defend the rights and interests of Western Union or others.
We transfer your information to parties in countries outside the country it was collected, including but not limited to the USA, as permitted or required by applicable law, regulatory authorities, law enforcement, and government agencies. Additionally, when you send or receive money to or from another country, we will also be required to share some of your personal information with that country as required or permitted by law. We transfer certain personal information about you to our data centers located in the USA or within a region as required by local law and process it to fulfil our legal and compliance obligations which apply to our Services. We also store certain personal information we collect based on your marketing choices in our US data center. By using Western Union’s Services, you acknowledge that such transfers of information outside of your country of residence may occur.
Personal information transferred outside the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland to countries that the European Commission has not found to provide adequate protection will be protected by appropriate standard contractual clauses or other EU-approved mechanisms, as required by law.
Your personal information will be retained in accordance with statutory periods contained in regulations applicable to financial transactions including those in anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and other laws applicable to us. Otherwise, we will retain your information only if necessary for the specific purposes for which it was collected, or to resolve any query you may raise. We will typically keep your information for no longer than necessary for the purpose(s) for which it was obtained, unless we have a legal obligation to keep it for a longer period or retention is advisable for Western Union’s legal position (for example, regarding applicable statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory investigations).
You have the right to know if we are processing your personal information and to ask us for a copy of your information free of charge. You have the right to request a structured and machine-readable copy of certain information you have provided to us. We may charge you a reasonable fee for providing the information, or not act upon your request, if the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. If you are a WU+ customer, you may log into your account at any time to access your statements, transactional information, and certain personal information.
You have the right to stop us from sending you marketing communications. You have the right to ask us to correct information about you that is incomplete, inaccurate or out-of-date. You have the right to ask us to delete certain information about you, to restrict certain uses of information relating to you, and to object to certain uses of it. To the extent we are processing personal information based on your consent, you may withdraw your consent as permitted by applicable law. If you are a registered user of westernunion.com as a digital money transfer consumer, you may also visit westernunion.com and edit your profile settings to change your marketing communications and third-party data sharing preferences. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a relevant data protection regulator or supervisory authority about our processing of personal information. When we receive a request, we may ask for additional information from you to verify your identity and as a security measure to protect your personal information. In some situations, we may refuse to act or may impose limitations on your rights, as permitted by applicable law. To exercise these rights, please visit our Individual Rights Request Portal or contact Western Union through the section titled “CONTACTING US”. We will endeavor to respond to your request within 30 days, but response time may vary depending on the laws and regulations applicable to your request, and we may be entitled to extend this period in certain circumstances. We will comply with your request to the extent required by applicable law.
Additional rights may also be available in various jurisdictions under local laws. These will be accessible via the means provided above.
If you have a question or complaint about how we handle your personal information, we ask that you put your inquiry in writing. We will investigate your inquiry and generally respond to you in writing within 30 days of receipt. You can also contact us, including our Data Protection Officer, at wuprivacy@westernunion.com.
To contact us via a toll-free or local phone number, please click the “Contact Us” link in the footer of the applicable Western Union webpage to find contact information specific to your region.
Western Union reserves the right to modify this Privacy Statement. Updated privacy statements will be posted on this Website when amendments occur. We urge you to review this Privacy Statement when you visit to obtain the most current statement.
For consumers in the USA (including those in California, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas and Vermont) please follow this link to Western Union’s Privacy Notice.
For California residents, please see the California Resident Addendum to this Privacy Statement.
For consumers in Mexico, see the Mexican Resident Addendum to this Privacy Statement.
For consumers resident in Japan, notwithstanding any other provisions contained in this Privacy Statement, we will treat your Japanese Personal Identification Number (“My Number”) and its supporting documents in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations as described in this section.
We collect your My Number and supporting documents designated by us for the purpose of confirming your My Number as required by and in compliance with the Act on Submission of Statement of Overseas Wire Transfers for Purpose of Securing Proper Domestic Taxation of Japan (Act No. 110 of 1997, as amended).
For a list of local Western Union legal entities, please see below: “WESTERN UNION LEGAL ENTITIES.”
Categories of Personal Information | Categories of Sources | Business and Commercial Purposes | Categories of Third Parties |
Identifiers: contact information provided for example your name, postal address, e-mail address, and telephone number; date of birth provided; social profile and network information; IP address; device identifier; mobile ad identifier; cookies; beacons; and pixel tags. |
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Internet and Other Electronic Network Activity Information: including the host from which you access the Internet, information about your device (such as device properties, settings, applications, storage and usage information), mobile application, browser and operating system software, the date and time you access our websites and the address of the site from which you linked to our website when you visit us. |
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Geolocation Data: may be collected from your devices only if enabled |
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Western Union does not sell your personal information to third parties in exchange for money. Western Union does participate in advertising, marketing and analytic programs from which we and third parties with whom we contract may derive value; such exchanges may constitute a “sale” under applicable law. While participating in the above programs, in the 12 months prior to the effective date of the Privacy Statement, Western Union may have “sold” your personal information to a third party including:
California residents have the right to request that their personal information not be sold to third parties. To exercise your right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information, please follow this link [URL] or submit a personal information request as described above in the section of our Privacy Statement entitled “ACCESSING, DELETING AND CORRECTING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND CHANGING YOUR CHOICES”.
In addition, if you are a California resident, you may have the right to request, twice in a 12-month period, the categories of personal information we have collected about you during the past 12 months and, for each category of personal information, the following information:
You also may have the right to request the deletion of the personal information we have collected from you. Once you have confirmed you are a California resident, you may submit a personal information request in accordance with the Privacy Statement section entitled “ACCESSING, DELETING AND CORRECTING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND CHANGING YOUR CHOICES” twice in any 12-month period. Upon receiving a request, Western Union will confirm receipt of the request within 10 days and will provide information on how we will verify your identity and process you request. We will then respond to the request within 45 days.
Western Union cannot connect individual consumers to passive website visits which may affect our ability to respond to certain requests. Western Union has implemented the capability for the user to manage cookies on our websites and will only read or write cookies based on your preference level. When you visit our website, you will be presented with a banner instructing you how to manage your preferences.
You may also designate an authorized agent to make a personal information request on your behalf. If you choose to designate an agent, you may be required to provide the authorized agent with written permission to make your request and verify your own identity directly with us. We may deny a request from an agent that does not submit proof that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf.
You have the right not to be discriminated against because you exercise any right described in the Privacy Statement or this Addendum.
If you have previously transacted with Western Union, you have rights separate from those described above which are explained here.
Contact for More Information: for questions or concerns about our Privacy Statement and privacy practices, please contact us as specified in the “Contacting Us” section of the Privacy Statement
MEXICAN RESIDENT ADDENDUM TO THE WESTERN UNION GLOBAL PRIVACY STATEMENT
We care about the privacy of our Mexican consumers and are committed to collecting, using, storing, protecting, disclosing and sharing your personal information in accordance with Mexico’s Federal Act on the Protection of Personal Data held by Private Parties (Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de Particulares). This Mexican Resident Addendum to the Western Union Global Privacy Statement (“Addendum”) is applicable to residents of Mexico and, in conjunction with the Privacy Statement, is intended to address the requirements of the Mexico’s Federal Act on the Protection of Personal Data held by Private Parties. Within Mexico, the applicable Western Union data controllers are Grupo Dinámico Empresarial S.A. de C.V., Servicios de Apoyo GDE SA de CV, Operaciones Internacionales OV S.A. de C.V. and Servicio Integral de Envíos, S.A. de C.V. with legal address at Av. Paseo de la Reforma No. 505, piso 17, Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06500, Ciudad de México.
HOW WESTERN UNION PROCESSES YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We process your personal information for the following Primary Purposes:
We also process your personal information for the following non-essential, Secondary Purposes:
Western Union will never collect or use your sensitive personal information while we provide our Services to you.
In addition to the personal data mentioned above, we also inform you that at the moment you decide to hire the Western Union Money Transfer Service through our mobile application, the Manager will also collect and process your biometric data, which refer to your physical and physiological characteristics, such as your face for facial recognition and fingerprints. Said biometric data, together with the photograph of their official identification, will be sent by the Manager to the competent authorities in Mexico for their respective validation.
With the validation of your biometric information and the official identification presented, the Responsible party complies with the obligation to know and verify the identity of you as a sender of a money transfer in Mexico, in accordance with the regulation that is applicable as Money Transmitter
As owner of the personal information, you may at any moment exercise your rights to access, rectify, cancel and/or oppose the processing of your personal information (the “ARCO Rights”) as well as to revoke your consent regarding the processing of any personal information which violates the terms of this Privacy Statement, via a written request to our Data Privacy Department at wuprivacy@westernunion.com, insofar as the requested opposition and/or revocation poses no harm to third parties’ rights and in accordance with article 34 of the Law.
Your request must include: i) the name of the owner of the personal information, ii) an address whereby the request may be answered, iii) official documents that establish the identity of the data owner, or, where applicable, proof of legal representation of the Personal Data’s owner, and iv) a clear and precise description of the personal information for which you wish to exercise your ARCO rights.
Requests for rectification of personal information must include the modifications which you wish to be made and evidence to support such petition; requests regarding the revocation of your consent must communicate in a clear manner that you wish to revoke your consent regarding the processing of certain personal information, and where applicable, the reasons for such revocation.
Upon receipt of your request, We shall have a term of 20 (twenty) business days to inform you of the relevant solution, with such solution being effective as of 15 (fifteen) business days following the date on which such resolution was informed to you in writing or via e-mail. The aforementioned terms may be extended once, insofar as proper justification for the extension is given.
You, as the owner of the Personal Data, declare having read and agree to the terms and conditions provided of this Privacy Notice that is available for you, knowing that the purpose of the collection and treatment of your Personal Data and the Generated Personal Data, as well as the procedure to exercise your ARCO rights and the revocation of your consent.
I consent and authorize that my personal data and biometric data (fingerprints and facial recognition), be collected and processed by Servicio Integral de Envíos, S.A. de C.V. and Operaciones Internacionales OV, S.A. de C.V., in accordance with the provisions of this Privacy Notice.
Your Personal Data will be treated in compliance with the safeguard levels required by Law.
Entity | Contact Information / Address |
Western Union Financial Services (Australia) PTY. LTD. | Level 7 400 George Street Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia |
Western Union International Bank GmbH (Austria)* | Schubertring 11, A-1010 Vienna, Austria |
Western Union Retail Services Belgium | Place Louise 6, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Belgium, Belgium |
Western Union Financial Services (Canada), Inc. | 925 Marine Dr, North Vancouver, V7P 1S2 Canada |
Western Union Network (Canada) Company | Suite 900, 1959 Upper Water Street, Halifax, NS, Canada B3J 3N2 |
Western Union Payment Services GB Limited | 200 Hammersmith Road, London, United Kingdom, W6 7DL |
Western Union Payment Services Ireland Ltd (Ireland)** | Unit 9 Richview Business Park Clonskeagh, Dublin, 14 Ireland |
Western Union International Limited (Ireland) | Unit 9 Richview Business Park Clonskeagh, Dublin, 14 Ireland |
Western Union Network (Ireland) Limited | Unit 9 Richview Business Park Clonskeagh, Dublin, 14 Ireland |
Western Union Japan KK | Metro City Kamiyacho 7f, 1-5, Toranomon 5-Chome, Minato-Ku Tokyo, Japan |
Western Union Payments (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd | 16th Floor, Wisma Sime Darby, Jalan Raja Laut, 50350 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Western Union MT East (Russia) | 16A Bldg, Leningradskoe shosse 125171, Moscow, Russia |
Western Union Turkey Ӧdeme Hizmetleri A.Ş. (Turkey) | Maslak Mahallesi Ahi Evran Cad. No: 21 Polaris Plaza K:5 34398 Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey |
Western Union Financial Services, Inc. (USA) | 7001 E Belleview Avenue, Denver, CO |
Grupo Dinámico Empresarial S.A. de C.V., Servicios de Apoyo GDE SA de CV, Operaciones Internacionales OV S.A. de C.V. and Servicio Integral de Envíos, S.A. de C.V. | Av. Paseo de la Reforma No. 505, piso 17, Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06500, Ciudad de México |
*Data controller for Services as described in this Statement in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom** Data controller for in-person retail services in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
Country | Entity | Contact Information / Address |
Bahrain | NEC B.S.C partnership | http://www.nec-bh.com/ |
Costa Rica | Airpak Fidelity Corp partnership | Airpak Fidelity Corp Paseo Colon, Torre Mercedes Piso 7, San Jose Costa Rica Telephone: (506) 4800-1703 |
Columbia | Acciones & Valores S.A. Giros y Finanzas Compañía de Financiamiento S.A. | Calle 72, No. 7-64, Piso 11, Bogotá, Columbia Calle 4, No. 27-52, Santiago de Cali, Columbia |
Ecuador | Transferunion S.A. partnership | https://www.redactiva.com/redactiva/contactanos Email: comentarios@activaecuador.com |
Guatemala | Airpak Fidelity Corp partnership | Airpak Fidelity Corp: 16 Calle 0-53 Zona 10, Edif. Torre Internacional Nivel 15, Guatemala Telephone: 502-2410-1051 |
Jamaica | GraceKennedy Remittance Services partnership | GraceKennedy Remittance Services Ltd. 2-6 Trafford Place Kingston 5 Jamaica Telephone: (876) 926-2454 Email: wuonline@gkco.com |
Kuwait | Aman Exchange Company W.L.L. | http://www.amankuwait.com/AmanWebsite/index.html Email: info@amankuwait.com |
Malaysia | Western Union Payments (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (WUPM) | Telephone: 800-81-3399 |
Qatar | Alfardan Exchange LLC | Telephone: 800 3950 Email: wu.support@alfardanexchange.com.qa |
Ukraine | PrivatBank, JSC CB PrivatBank (Ukraine) | Email: hotline@privatbank.ua |
United Arab Emirates | Al Fardan Exchange LLC | Email: wu.support@alfardanexchange.com |