International

According to South African Reserve Bank Exchange Control Rules and Regulations, only the following types of Western Union Receive Transactions are allowed:

• Foreign tourists visiting South Africa receiving funds from abroad relating to their holiday or business visit to South Africa
• Foreign students studying in South Africa receiving funds from abroad to pay for their living expenses, tuition, books, etc
• Earnings of SA resident temporarily abroad
• Monetary gifts received from abroad - Gifts, other than to charitable, religious, cultural or educational organisations

Documents needed when sending or receiving funds via a Western Union Transaction:

SA citizens
Defined as: A citizen or a natural person who has taken up permanent residence in SA
Requires:

• Proof of address: a utility bill not older than 3 months, a valid TV licence, a Telkom account or a copy of a rental agreement
• Either a green bar coded SA ID or valid passport with a valid permanent residence permit 

Can send and receive money

Non-residents
Defined as: A person whose normal place of residence, domicile or registration is outside of SA, Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia
Requires: Both a valid passport and a temporary residence permit
Can receive money

Foreign nationals
Defined as: A natural person from a country outside of SA, Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia, who is temporarily residing in SA, excluding those on holiday or business
Requires:

• Proof of address: a utility bill not older than 3 months, a valid TV licence, a Telkom account or a copy of a rental agreement
• A valid passport and either a valid work permit if working or a temporary residence permit

Can send and receive money

Refugees
Defined as: A person who has left their place of customary residence owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion
Requires: Either a valid maroon refugee ID or a confirmation of authenticity in writing from the Department of Home Affairs
Can send and receive money

Exclusions:

The following persons cannot perform a Western Union® Money Transfer transaction:

• Residents of Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia
• Section 22 permit holders (asylum seekers)
• Business transactions or any entity not transacting as an individual
• Non-Residents are not allowed to send funds from South Africa via Western Union® Money Transfer

• Send Money: This transaction will enable you to send money to a person in another country making use of the Western Union network of agents.
  • A Random Verification Number (RVN) will be furnished to you.
  • You will need to first create a Western Union beneficiary by using any of the following navigations:
  • Under Payments menu by select the Western Union Money Transfer container.
  • Open the Add beneficiary tab.
  • The beneficiary once successfully created will have a waiting period of an hour as part of the Absa validation process.
  • On completion of an hour waiting period from creation of the beneficiary you can send money to the beneficiary created by using the Payments menu and selecting the Send Money option.
  • Follow the step-by-step process as indicated on the Send Money.
• Receive Money: This transaction will enable you to receive money from a person in another country making use of the Western Union network of agents.
  • You can perform a Receive Money transaction by selecting the Payments menu and the Western Union Money Transfer container.
  • Open the Receive money tab.
  • Follow the step-by-step process as indicated on the Receive Money screens.
• Cancel Send Money: This functionality will allow you to initiate a cancellation enquiry. On confirmation that the funds have not been paid out you will receive notification that the ‘send’ transaction has been cancelled and you can claim the monies back via an inbound/receive money transaction “Nature of Payment” using ‘Nature of Payment’ code 902
  • You can raise an enquiry to cancel your Western Union Send money transaction online.
  • This can be done by selecting the Western Union Money Transfer container under the Payments option.
  • Select the View and manage tab
  • You will be required to select the specific beneficiary from the list displayed.
  • Then select the transaction you want to delete and click on the cancel outbound money transfer icon
  • You will be required to enter a reason for cancellation and an e-mail address to which you will receive a response from the Absa Helpdesk team on your cancellation request.
  • Note: There is a turnaround time of up to 3 working days for the cancellation request to be effected.
• Trading hours: The Western Union Money Transfer service will only be available online in the following time frames:
  • 08:00 to 16:00, Mondays to Fridays
  • 08:00 to 12:00, Saturdays
  • This transaction type is not available on Sundays and Public Holidays.
  • Note: The service will also not be available during Public Holidays in countries where there is Western Union presence.
• Transaction limits: A maximum amount of R30 000 per transaction is allowed for this transaction type but your normal Absa Online Payment limit will also apply. This means that if yourPayment limit is less than R30 000 the lowest limit will apply. In addition to this a South African Reserve Bank Exchange Control limit will be applied per “Nature of Payment” (BoP code).
• The charge for this transaction type will not form part of your Absa Online monthly charge. The charge will be effected at time of transaction and will be shown to you before you accept the Western Union send money transaction. You will accept the quote and the charge together with the principal amount, will be debited from your ‘from’ account as selected.