How to send money overseas from New Zealand

You can send money online 24/7 through westernunion.com or the Western Union^® app after you create your online profile and complete your ID verification. Then choose your destination country and the amount you’d like to send.

You can send money directly to your receiver’s bank account¹, to an agent location for cash pickup, or to a mobile wallet if the service is available in your receiver’s country.

Learn more about how to register and how to send money online.

When you first register with Western Union, you’ll need to create an online profile and verify your identity.

To send money transfer, you’ll need your receiver’s full name (as it appears on their valid ID) and address. You’ll also need a Visa^® or MasterCard^® credit or debit card² issued by a New Zealand bank, or access to internet banking with POLi. You must be over 18.

With a registered Western Union profile, you can send up to 5,000 NZD within a 3-day period. If you need to send more, please send money in person at an agent location.

You can send money online to more than 200 countries and territories with Western Union New Zealand. Check our agent locator tool to see all the locations available to you for a money transfer. Your receiver can pick up the cash at any Western Union agent location around the world.

If you want to send money directly to a bank account find the list of countries here.

Once you’ve completed the transfer online and received your receipt with a tracking number (MTCN), your receiver will be able to collect the money within minutes³ from any Western Union agent location around the world.

You can pay for your transfer with a Visa^® or MasterCard^® credit or debit card² issued by a New Zealand bank, or with internet banking via POLi.

POLi is an online payment method which enables you to pay for your transfer via internet banking.

POLi will establish a secure connection to your online bank, where you pay with your regular online banking information. It’s free and registration with POLi isn’t necessary. Please have your online banking details at hand. Your payment will be confirmed immediately.

Learn More about POLi

Supported banks

Verified by Visa^® and MasterCard SecureCode^® were developed to help prevent unauthorised use of cards online. These services use personal passwords or identity information to help protect cards against unauthorized use. They’re available for most cards from participating financial institutions.

Once your card is activated, your card number will be recognised whenever it’s used at participating online merchants. When you process a money transfer online with Western Union, you may be prompted for your Verified by Visa^® or MasterCard SecureCode^® password to complete the transfer.

You can still use your card on our site if you haven’t activated Verified by Visa^® or MasterCard SecureCode^®.

Depending on the reason why the transfer couldn’t be completed, your card issuer may have already placed a pre-authorisation for the payment on your card. The funds are being held by your card issuer, not by Western Union. The card issuer will automatically release these funds, but it may take a couple of days. Please contact your card issuer for details.

The fee for an online money transfer may vary, depending on the amount you’re sending and where you’re sending it. However, you can send money online for a 0 NZD fee when you send to a bank account with POLi.

You can check the transfer fee⁴ and exchange rate for a money transfer using our price estimator.

Exchange rates change frequently and may have changed from your last money transfer or an estimate generated on an earlier day. You may check the current fees and exchange rate online using our price estimator.

Your online receipt will show whether your transfer was approved. If we need more information to approve your transfer, we’ll have you call us. When the transfer is complete, you’ll get an email with your tracking number (MTCN).

You may track the status of your money transfer using the Track transfer service online. All you need is the tracking number (MTCN) that’s provided on your payment receipt. You can also check the details of your transfer on the History page in the mobile app, or in the Recent Activity section on westernunion.com.

A receipt will be sent to your registered email address once your transfer is complete. You can also check the details of all your transfers on the History page in the mobile app, or in the History section on westernunion.com.

The tracking number (MTCN) is a unique code assigned to your transfer. When you send money online, you will get the MTCN on your money transfer receipt. Your receiver will need this tracking number when they pick up their money, and it can also be used to track your transfer. Please do not share this number with anyone other than your intended receiver.

Before you can pick up the money, you’ll receive a SMS, an email or a phone call from the agent so you can choose to register at a physical location or via online registration.

Here’s what you’ll need to provide for registration:

• Your full name as it appears on your government-issued ID.
• Name on the bank account.
• Bank name.
• Bank code.
• Branch name.
• Branch code.
• Bank account number.
• The currency on your bank account needs to be in JMD.
• TRN number (TaxID).
• Government-issued ID, ID type, and expiration.
• Country of birth.
• Date of birth.
• Phone number (home and mobile).
• Home address (street, city/town, or parish).
• Occupation
• Place of work (if homemaker or unemployed, this is not required).
• Your email address.

Please note that GraceKennedy will complete the verification required to make sure the receiver owns the given bank account. The verification process may take up to 2 business days and may be cancelled within 8 days if your registration is not complete.

An online money transfer can be cancelled only if it has not been collected by the receiver in the destination country or if the funds have not been credited to your receiver’s bank account or mobile wallet, or if the payment was not completed due to technical issues.

If you wish to cancel your money transfer, please contact us.

You can request a refund by contacting our Customer Care. You will need to provide your money transfer details for verification, including the tracking number (MTCN).

Upon raising a refund request, you’ll be assigned a ticket number to track the status of your refund. You’ll also get the status on your registered email address.

Once we receive your refund request, your money transfer details will be verified, and your request will be processed. If your refund request is approved, the money will be credited back to the funding source you used to pay for the transfer. For card transfers, depending on the issuing bank, it may take 7-14 days for the money to appear on the card. For POLi transfers, it will usually take up to 5-7 business days for the funds to be refunded back to your bank account.

In case the account, which you used to fund the transfer is inactive, invalid or closed please contact our Customer Care.

If you saw an error code 61 or 71 pop up after payment has been processed, you should check two things. That you have enough funds available to pay for the transfer and transfer fee in the account or linked to the debit/credit card, and that the transfer amount isn’t larger than allowed by your payment method. And if you recently were sent a new card, that you have completed the steps to activate the card before you use for purchase. Please contact your payment provider for assistance.