Western Union Send Money API integration (Remittance / OpenFinance)

Transfer creation API

POST a sender + receiver + amount + corridor and receive an MTCN, expected payout time and locked-in FX. Use it for one-tap "send again" flows in your own app or for a treasury workbench that batches payouts to gig workers and contractors.

MTCN tracking & delivery webhooks

Poll status (PENDING / ON_HOLD / PAID / RETURNED) by MTCN or subscribe to delivery webhooks. Drives customer support dashboards, automatic SMS confirmations and proactive AML hold investigation.

FX quote & rate-alert API

Live indicative rates by corridor (USD→PHP, EUR→INR, GBP→NGN…) plus user-defined preferred-rate alerts. Feed it into a treasury hedging workflow or surface it inside an internal "best-time-to-send" widget.

Statement & transfer history API

Paginated transfer history filtered by date range, payout method, corridor or status. Exportable to JSON, CSV or PDF for accounting, audit trails and customer self-service downloads.

Recipient & agent-location services

Manage stored recipients (resend list) and resolve nearby agent locations by GPS or postal code. Useful for white-label apps that pair an in-app journey with cash collection at a partner counter.

Account login & consent

Mirror app authorization with OAuth-style token issuance, SCA challenges and consent records. Supports the "start in the app, pay in cash at an agent" workflow and other multi-step journeys.

1. Diaspora payroll for gig workers

Context. A staffing platform pays remote contractors across the Philippines, India and Mexico every two weeks.
Data / API. Transfer creation API + statement API + MTCN webhooks.
OpenFinance angle. The platform's payroll engine treats Western Union as a payout rail behind a single OpenFinance "credit transfer" abstraction, so the same UI works with WU, local ACH and UPI.

2. Corporate FX cost reporting

Context. A finance team needs to show regulators the all-in cost of each remittance, not just the headline fee.
Data / API. FX quote API + fee-breakdown fields from the transfer record.
OpenFinance angle. Quotes and executed rates are persisted side-by-side so the spread becomes an auditable line item.

3. Hybrid in-app start, cash payout

Context. A neobank in Europe lets users start a transfer in-app and have their relative collect cash at a Western Union agent in Latin America.
Data / API. Transfer creation API with payout_method=CASH_PICKUP, agent-location services, MTCN delivery webhooks.
OpenFinance angle. Aligns with PSD2 PISP-style payment initiation while keeping cash as a last-mile option.

4. CRM-grade recipient sync

Context. A money-transfer brand wants its support team to see a customer's recipient list when they call in.
Data / API. Recipient profile sync + transfer history.
OpenFinance angle. Recipient records are normalised into a contact graph that other rails (SEPA, ACH, mobile wallet) can also write to.

5. Compliance / AML monitoring

Context. A compliance team wants near-real-time visibility on high-risk corridors and structuring patterns.
Data / API. Statement API streamed via webhook, joined with sanctions and PEP lists.
OpenFinance angle. Transactions are emitted as ISO-20022-style messages, which slot into existing transaction-monitoring stacks.

Create a transfer

POST /api/v1/wu/transfers
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>

{
  "sender":   { "customer_id": "CUST_123",
                "country": "US", "currency": "USD" },
  "receiver": { "first_name": "Maria",
                "last_name": "Santos",
                "country": "PH", "payout_method": "BANK" },
  "amount":   { "send_currency": "USD",
                "send_amount": 500.00,
                "receive_currency": "PHP" },
  "funding":  { "type": "BANK_DEBIT",
                "account_token": "tok_abc..." },
  "purpose":  "FAMILY_SUPPORT"
}

200 OK
{
  "mtcn": "1234-5678-90",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "exchange_rate": 56.842,
  "fee": { "send_fee": 0, "fx_margin": 1.85 },
  "expected_payout": "2026-05-09T14:25:00Z"
}

Track an MTCN

GET /api/v1/wu/transfers/1234-5678-90
Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>

200 OK
{
  "mtcn": "1234-5678-90",
  "status": "PAID",
  "events": [
    {"ts":"2026-05-09T13:01:00Z","code":"CREATED"},
    {"ts":"2026-05-09T13:02:14Z","code":"COMPLIANCE_OK"},
    {"ts":"2026-05-09T13:05:42Z","code":"PAID",
     "payout_partner": "BDO_PH"}
  ]
}

# Errors are returned as RFC-7807 problem+json
# 409 conflict + code "ON_HOLD_AML" → trigger review queue

Statement webhook (consumer)

POST /your-app/webhooks/wu-statement
X-WU-Signature: t=...,v1=...

{
  "event": "transfer.completed",
  "occurred_at": "2026-05-09T13:05:42Z",
  "data": {
    "mtcn": "1234-5678-90",
    "send_amount": 500.00,
    "send_currency": "USD",
    "receive_amount": 28421.00,
    "receive_currency": "PHP",
    "corridor": "US-PH",
    "payout_method": "BANK"
  }
}

# Verify HMAC, idempotently upsert into ledger,
# then publish to your event bus (e.g. Kafka).

Authorization-first integration

Western Union operates a documented PSD2 / Open Banking program for European customers, exposing AISP (account information, including up to 90 days of transaction history) and PISP (payment initiation, including FX booking) endpoints under Strong Customer Authentication. Where these are available we use them directly. For non-PSD2 corridors we work under partner agreements or documented public APIs published on the official Western Union Developer Portal.

Regulatory landscape

Remittance flows touch multiple regimes at once: PSD2 in the EU/EEA, FinCEN MSB rules and the CFPB Remittance Transfer Rule in the United States, the FCA's Payment Services Regulations in the UK, and country-specific KYC frameworks. Our deliverables include a compliance map per target corridor so your legal team can sign off quickly.

Privacy & data minimisation

We tokenise card and bank-account identifiers, mask receiver PII to the level your use case actually needs, log every API call with consent identifiers, and document retention windows aligned with GDPR and applicable local data laws. NDAs are signed when handling production data.

Remitly

A digital-first remittance app focused on diaspora corridors. Users who track Remitly transfers often need a single statement view that also includes Western Union receipts.

Xoom (a PayPal service)

Sends money to bank accounts, debit cards, mobile wallets and cash pickup. Common in side-by-side rate comparisons with Western Union; integration teams often expose both as parallel payout rails.

Wise (formerly TransferWise)

Multi-currency accounts and mid-market FX. Frequently used for SME treasury alongside Western Union for last-mile cash payout in the same workflow.

WorldRemit

Mobile-first remittance with strong African and Asian corridors. Pairs naturally with WU statement data for a unified family-support dashboard.

MoneyGram

Closest direct peer in agent-network coverage. Compliance teams routinely consume both feeds when building holistic AML monitoring.

Ria Money Transfer

Strong in Latin America and South Asia corridors. Often appears in comparison shoppers built on top of multiple remittance APIs.

PayPal

Used for both peer-to-peer and merchant flows. Cross-referencing PayPal activity with Western Union transfers gives a fuller picture of a user's outbound payment behaviour.

Skrill

Wallet-centric digital payments service with international transfer features. Useful when end users keep balances in a wallet but cash out via Western Union agents.

TransferGo

European-rooted remittance service with fast EU corridors. Often integrated alongside Western Union to give EU senders multiple speed/cost options.

BossMoney (BossRevolution)

Focused on US-outbound remittance with mobile top-ups. Frequently bundled with Western Union in MVP comparison products targeting diaspora users.

About us

OpenFinance Lab is an independent technical studio focused on App interface integration and authorized API integration. Our engineers come from banks, card networks, payment gateways, and protocol-analysis backgrounds, and we ship end-to-end remittance and OpenFinance APIs under explicit security and compliance constraints.

• Cross-border payments, digital banking, fintech and compliance tooling
• Enterprise API gateways, security reviews and threat modelling
• Custom Python / Node.js / Go SDKs and CI test harnesses
• End-to-end pipeline: protocol analysis → build → validation → compliance hand-off
• Source code delivery from $300 — runnable API source plus full documentation; pay after acceptance
• Pay-per-call API billing — access our hosted endpoints, no upfront cost, ideal for usage-based pricing

Contact

For quotes, sandbox keys, or to submit your target corridors and integration requirements, please open our contact page:

Contact page

Engagement workflow

1. Scope confirmation — corridors, payout methods and required APIs (transfer, MTCN, FX, statement).
2. Protocol analysis and API design (2–5 business days, complexity-dependent).
3. Build and internal validation against sandbox or recorded fixtures (3–8 business days).
4. Documentation, sample clients and automated test cases (1–2 business days).
5. Typical first delivery: 5–15 business days; partner approvals or PSD2 onboarding may extend timelines.

FAQ

What do you need from me to start a Western Union Send Money integration?

How long does delivery take?

How do you handle compliance for remittance flows?

Can you support pay-per-call billing instead of source delivery?