Western Union branches have varying exchange rates

A friendly reminder to those encashing their Google Adsense earnings via Western Union Quick Cash: scout first for the Western Union branch that offers the highest exchange rate because exchange rates vary per branch and you will “lose” if you received a lower rate.

This is what I realized when I encashed my Adsense income today. First I went to SM Megamall’s Bills Payment section that processes Western Union transactions. I asked what their dollar-to-peso exchange rate is. I was told it was $1 to P42.35.

I decided not to redeem my earnings yet and instead headed to another Western Union branch, this time inside St. Francis Square which is just across SM Megamall. The staff told me their exchange rate was $1 to P42.67 — higher than SM Megamall’s.

Betting that another location can beat this rate, I went to Sanry’s Foreign Exchange at Glorietta Mall in Makati. True enough, they offer was better: $1 to $42.70. I then decided to settle for this and redeemed my Adsense earnings.

Our reminder again: before you hurry to a Western Union agent for your Google Adsense payment, search first for a branch with the highest offered rate.

If, for example, you received $1,000 and decided to convert this to peso at SM Megamall instead of Sanry’s at Glorietta, you would have “lost” P350. That’s $1,000 multiplied by the difference in the rates (P42.70-P42.35).

It might not be a big amount, but P350 still is P350, right?

What has been your experience using Western Union? Let us know!

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