Frequently Asked Questions

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), as mandated by the EU’s Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), requires payment service providers to authenticate digital payments.

SCA, also known as 3D Secure, is a multi-factor authentication that adds an extra layer of security to digital payments to reduce fraud. It asks you to authenticate your payment using PIN, password, or biometrics.

At Western Union, to meet the SCA requirements, we use multi-factor authentication to secure your online transfers.

Western Union uses Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) to secure online payments. To successfully authenticate your payment, please be sure of the following:

• Your card or bank account is registered for SCA (3D Secure). If not, contact your card issuer or register it through your online banking portal.
• Your contact information is up to date with your bank and Western Union.
• You enter your PIN or password accurately.

Please note that you can also pay for your money transfers using alternative methods. We’ll show your payment options when you start an online transfer.

Anyone who needs to send or receive money quickly uses Western Union^®. These include people supporting friends or relatives abroad.

They are our representatives that you can approach in order to send or receive money. In other countries, they may be in banks, post offices, supermarkets, grocery stores, check cashers, mailbox centers, drug stores, travel agencies, depots, airports, train and bus stations, currency exchange offices and other retailers

You can easily locate a Western Union^® Agent in Ukraine online or call PrivatBank +380 (800) 500-003 or 3700 from your mobile, service is available 24/7.
For in-person service at Agents’ locations please call our partners in Ukraine:

• PrivatBank 3700
• Raiffeisen bank Aval 0 800 500-500
• Pravex-bank 0 800 500 450
• Ukrainian Financial Group 0 800 500 100
• Unicreditbank (Ukrsotsbank) 0 800 3000 90 or 332
• Pivdennyi bank 0 800 30 70 30
• Meta bank 0 800 30 10 38
• Credit Europe Bank 044 390 67 28
• Investbank 048 722 21 44

Acceptable IDs:

• Current passport
• National identity card

Money transfers will generally be paid in cash, but some Agents will pay by cheque or a combination of cash and cheque. The receiver may choose other ways to receive funds and some money transfers may be paid to profiles. Other restrictions may apply. Please contact Western Union^® Service Provider to get more information about restrictions.

You can check your transfer status online. All you need is the sender’s name and the tracking number (MTCN – Money Transfer Control Number) printed on the sender’s receipt.

You can pick up your money at any agent location. You’ll need to complete a “To Receive Money” form with the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Amount expected
• Sender’s name
• Sender’s city and country
• Acceptable ID documents are also required

Other local requirements may be asked for by the front line staff at the location.

Each Western Union^® Agent location determines its own hours of operation. Some have extended hours and some even stay open 24 hours.

Visit an Agent location near you with your government-issued ID. You will also need to ask the Sender for the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)¹.

Simply locate the ‘Tracking’ link on the homepage of our website. Then type in the sender’s name and MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number). We will then update you on the latest status of your money transfer.

Check your money transfer status now

Or call our partners in Ukraine

• PrivatBank 3700, For calls from abroad +38 073 716 11 31
• Raiffeisen bank 0 800 500-500
• Pravex-bank 0 800 500 450
• Ukrainian Financial Group 0 800 500 100
• Pivdennyi bank 0 800 30 70 30
• Industrial Bank 0 800 50 35 35
• IBOX Bank 0 800 500 178
• Nova Poshta / NovaPay 0 800 307 979
• Accent Bank (A-Bank) 7776, For calls from abroad +38 056 722 0 555
• Megabank 0 800 50 44 00
• Oschadbank 0 800 210 800, For calls from abroad +38 044 363 01 33
• Universal bank 0 800 300 200

Generally, money transfers are paid out in cash. Other restrictions may apply.

You can pick up your money at any Agent location. You will need to complete a “To Receive Money” form or provide Agent’s operator with the following information in other ways:

• Name
• Approximate amount expected
• Sender’s name
• Sender’s country
• Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)
• Acceptable ID documents

You may be asked to provide additional information by the staff at the location

All fees are paid by the Sender. Receiving money is free of charge unless the Receiver chooses to receive the money in a different currency or to a device or an account which is not part of the Send transaction. Western Union^® may make money from foreign currency exchange².

Acceptable IDs:

• Current passport

• National identity card

You can check your transfer status online. All you need is the Sender’s name and Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) – printed on the Sender’s receipt.

Each Western Union^® Agent location determines its own hours of operation. Some have extended hours and some even stay open 24 hours.
Find a nearby Agent location.

Registration is required for most services. After you register, sending a money transfer, payment or message can be done in minutes as your information will be pre-filled on the page. This saves you the time and trouble of typing it in each time you want to do a transaction.

No, it’s free of cost to register.

Anyone who satisfies the following conditions can use Western Union^® International money transfer service.

• The user must be an individual living in Ukraine and able to submit a valid Ukrainian passport.
• The user must be at least 18 years old as of the date of application.
• The user must be able to understand and accept the contents of the registration application form and terms of service.
• The user must have a valid email address, mobile phone and contact information.
• The user must hold of the Visa/MasterCard.

In certain cases, Western Union^® may refuse WU enrollment registration based on criteria of the service.

Registration with a valid ID document and mobile phone number is possible only once.

You can change/update your Western Union^® enrollment profile from the Western Union^®enrollment information menu on the Western Union^® enrollment site.
Registration of new identification document is required if you are changing your name, address, nationality or expiration date of identification document.

All senders must provide valid Ukrainian passport. For registration and service usage it is required to pass customer identification process at PrivatBank location. It is mandatory to collect and verify the mobile phone number, email address, full legal name, full residential address in Ukraine (City, Street, House/apartment number, Postal code), nationality and ID information.

If you already are a PrivatBank customer, your profile on Western Union^® site will be created and confirmed instantly after you enter a one time password sent to you mobile phone. If you haven’t gone through your ID verification process, you will be asked to visit a PrivatBank location to register.

You will be asked to come to a PrivatBank location and bring a valid Ukrainian passport in order to register for Western Union^®’s online service. Once this is done, you will be able to send money online after entering your mobile phone and one-time password sent to your mobile phone

You will be asked to enter one time password that is sent to your mobile phone. If you cannot login, please check, if you are using a mobile phone number that was used upon registration for the service. If you need assistance, please contact Customer Service Center +380 (800) 500 or 3700 from mobile, service is available 24/7.

Your mobile phone and one time password will be needed for accessing WU site. If you want to change your mobile phone number, you will be asked to visit a PrivatBank location to do so. You can change your email address on WU enrollment site. Please select “Change email address” from the WU enrollment Information menu.

Please contact Customer Service Center +380 (800) 500 or 3700 from mobile, service is available 24/7.

Yes. Some common scenarios include:

• Being required to pay a fee before receiving a loan
• Sweepstakes, prize, or lottery company representatives who tell you to transfer money to them in order to claim a prize you’ve won (there are many companies running fraudulent contests. They require you to transfer them money but give you nothing in return)
• Unsolicited letters or e-mails from Nigeria or other foreign government officials requesting assistance to transfer funds from a foreign country into your bank account
• Telephone calls from the police claiming someone you know has been in an accident or arrested and money is needed
• Unsolicited letters or e-mails offering an unrealistic price for expensive or difficult to find items
• Money transfers as proof of funds in order to secure overseas accommodation

If you receive an email from anyone claiming to be from Western Union^® and you are unsure about it, do not click on any links in the mail. This may be a “phishing” attempt to acquire sensitive information from you. Instead, immediately forward the suspicious mail to westernunion@privatbank.ua Neither Western Union^® nor PrivatBank will ever send you e-mails to ask for your user ID, password, or credit card details.

No. Our business is to enable funds transfer from a sender to a receiver. When using remittance services powered by Western Union^®, we caution you against sending money to strangers. It is the sender’s responsibility to know the party to which the funds are being sent. Using a fictitious name or changing the receiver’s name after the money transfer has been sent is not a guaranteed means of securing funds. If a receiver presents proper identification with the same name as on the money transfer and has knowledge of the transaction details, payment will be made.
Be wary of third-party “Collection” or “Holding” services unless they are reputable, licensed escrow services. We are not an escrow service, should not be used as an escrow service, and are currently not affiliated with any escrow services.

Contact your government’s Office of Consumer Affairs and police station if you are uncertain or suspicious of a telephone, mail, or e-mail solicitation. If you believe you are a victim of fraud, contact westernunion@privatbank.ua or closest PrivatBank location.

• Always make sure you know who you are sending money to. Neither PrivatBank nor Western Union^® are responsible for the quality or non-receipt of any goods or services purchased using the Western Union^® money transfer service.
• Discontinue a call if a caller coaches you to respond to questions asked by Western Union^®.
• Security is everyone’s responsibility. Stay informed. Keep abreast of new fraud trends. Remember, if it seems too-good-to-be-true, it probably is.

No. Remember, to protect yourself, never send money to someone you don’t know. If you think you’ve been scammed, call +380 (800) 500-003 or 3700 from your mobile or write an email to westernunion@privatbank.ua.

Learn more about fraud protection

Western Union^® agent locations are independent businesses that provide money transfer services to their customers on behalf of Western Union^®.

Each Western Union^® agent location determines its own hours of operation. Some have extended hours or even stay open 24 hours.

Find a nearby agent location

Find a nearby agent location online or look for Western Union^® in your local telephone directory.

To protect our customers, we review every money transfer to make sure it’s safe. For a variety of reasons, we may ask you to provide us with more information before we can allow you to continue using our services.

We need additional information to understand why you use Western Union and the relationship between you and the person or entities you’re transacting with. The more information you provide, the quicker we’ll be able to complete your request.

To have access to our services again, follow the steps below:

1. Gather the required documents. Please note that these will vary depending on your reason for using Western Union and your relationship to the person or entities you’re transacting with. At minimum you must be prepared with your government-issued photo ID, documents that relate to your purpose for using Western Union, proof of the source of the funds, and any additional documents that may provide support for the answers provided on the questionnaire. For more information, go to Help section at westernunion.com.
2. Go to westernunion.com/gcr and start the customer questionnaire.
3. Complete the customer questionnaire:

• Personal information:
  – Provide your first, middle (optional) and last names as they appear on your ID.
  – Share your current email, physical address and mobile number. Please make sure you provide an active email address for communication purposes.
  – Specify your country of birth.
  – Select your occupation and provide additional clarification if needed.
  – Enter a recent tracking number (MTCN) if available.
  – Upload a copy of your valid government-issued photo ID.
• Relationships:
  – List people or entities you’ve transacted with using Western Union.
  – For each person or entity, enter the full name, relationship, purpose of transaction and upload supporting documents.
• Source of funds:
  – Choose the source of funds from the drop-down list and upload supporting documents.
• Third party details (if you are transacting on behalf of someone else) (if applicable):
  – Explain the purpose of transaction(s) and your relationship to the third party.
  – Provide the details related to the third party.
• Fraud (if applicable):
  – Indicate if you’ve been a victim of fraud or scam.
  – If yes, share a brief description of what happened.

4. Review the accuracy of the information you provided.
5. Select Submit questionnaire to complete the process.

a. Valid government-issued photo ID is needed to verify your identity.

• Examples: passport, driver’s license, national ID.

b. Source of funds is needed to make sure that the money transfers are not related to illegal acts and correspond to the nature of your activity.

• Examples: at least the latest 3 months of bank statements, at least the latest 3 months of pay slips, employment contract with salary, loan papers, sale agreement, winning receipt, tax return statement, etc.

c. Purpose of money transfer or intended use of money is needed to understand the basis for making the payment and the type of relations between the sender and the payee.

• Examples:
  • Personal remittance/family support – the following documents are suitable to prove relationship: pictures with persons you transacted with, marriage certificate, counterparty’s birth certificate, counterparty’s government issued ID, etc.
  • Business remittance/payment for goods/services – bills, receipts, sale or purchase agreements, etc.
  • Education – evidence of tuition fees, etc.
  • Medical expenses – hospital bills, pharmacy receipts, health insurance premiums, etc.
  • Charity support – written acknowledgment from the charity, etc.
  • Purchase home – purchase agreement, mortgage documents, etc.
  • Gift – receipts, etc.
  • Travel expenses – travel tickets, hotel bookings, etc.

d. Third party activity (sending or receiving money on behalf of individual or business) information is needed to understand the purpose and nature of your relationship with Western Union.

• Examples: business registration documents, letter of authorization by the company or notary, bank statement showing access to third party funds, etc.

After we’ve received your completed questionnaire and required documentation, we’ll email you a response within 3 business days.

In case we have additional questions, we may contact you via the email address provided in the questionnaire.

We’re committed to the security of your personal information. We use organizational, technical and administrative safeguards that comply with applicable government laws and regulations to secure your personal information. We also restrict access to the personal information that we process to only our employees, agents and representatives that have a business need to know it. For more information, read our Terms and Conditions and Online Privacy Statement.