Western Union limit? Alternative?

[dddave]

I live in Thailand.  I have a "very good friend" in the Philippines who I have visited many times.  Good person.  She managed a phone shop in a mall and lost all income when Covid-19 caused the mall to be shut down so I've been helping her out, sending various amounts via WU from Thailand.

A few days ago when I was sending P10,000 for September, I was informed by the teller that I was "over the limit" for WU remittances to the PI.  I had never experienced this previously and asked what the limit was.  Neither she or even the bank manager could tell me what the limit was but they would only allow me to send a maximum P5000 and said I was suspended "temporarily" from further remittances. I was really surprised.  Is this somebody's idea of a way to protect innocent old expats from conniving Fillipina's?

 

Does anybody know anything about this?  Any details would be welcome because talking to my bank is like talking to chickens.

 

I've never used anything other than WU: Thailand to PI.  Any good alternatives with a widespread pick-up network?  She resides in Dipilog City if that helps.  

[NotReallyHere]

I haven't tried this myself, but it seems possible based on a little internet research.

 

I assume the woman doesn't have a bank account.  That is why you want to use WU.

 

Some Filipinos use the GCash App (the Wallet feature) as their "bank account".  If she "verifies" herself on the App, she can accept remittances from WU and MoneyGram.  I mention the GCash App in case she doesn't live near a MoneyGram outlet.

 

You can download the MoneyGram App to your phone and send a MoneyGram remittance to her GCash App on her phone.  GCash App is very flexible in the Philippines.  Limit for Remittances, if she is verified, is 100,000 Pesos.

 

Go to the GCash webpage.  Click the Help tab.  Type Remittance into the search bar for more info.

 

Hope this helps, if you haven't found an alternate solution yet.