XE Money Transfer vs Western Union: Fees, Rates & Speed Compared

Xe contracts through companies of its own and accepts senders only from countries on its registration list: most EU member states, the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, together with the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Xe says South African users are sent to register with its sister company, Ria Money Transfer. In Canada, for example, Xe's consumer terms name Xe Corporation, of Newmarket, Ontario, registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (C100000469) and holding a Revenu Québec licence. Ontario law governs those terms. For a claim under CAD 10,000 either side may choose arbitration without a hearing, conducted by phone, online or in writing; other claims go to a single arbitrator in Toronto under Ontario's Arbitration Act, with no appeal and no class claims.

Western Union's international terms are with a licensed Western Union subsidiary, or a licensed partner, representative or agent, in the country you send from, named in a country appendix or on your receipt. In some places the company also depends on how you send. In most EU countries, a transfer made anywhere other than its website or app, such as at an agent location, is with Western Union Payment Services Ireland Limited, on the Central Bank of Ireland's register (C55075), and unresolved complaints go to Ireland's Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. A transfer made on the Western Union website or app is with Western Union International Bank GmbH, working with Western Union International Limited, under Austria's Financial Market Authority, and complaints go to the Joint Conciliation Board of the Austrian Banking Industry. For many other countries the appendix names only a network of licensed and authorised partners.