How to Send Money to an Inmate Through Western Union

Western Union is an established provider of money-transfer services. It has been in business for more than 100 years and is now in more than 240 territories and countries. Millions of people use this service to send money to almost any location around the world, even in the most unusual places. If you want to send money to an inmate, you may use the services of Western Union. This can be done through the phone or through a Western Union agent location in your area.

Go to Western Union’s website. Before you can send money you need to register your personal information. Just fill out the form with all your information and continue until you finish the registration process. If you have already done this, you just have to sign in using the username and password that you have selected in your previous transaction. It is important to note that Western Union requires all senders and receivers to be at least 18 years of age in order to use their services.

Choose your location. It is important to indicate where you are sending the money from. Not everyone can send money online. If you live in a country not covered by online sending, you would need to go to an agent location to send money.

Countries from which you can send money online using Western Union inmate services are Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. If you need to send money from a place not included in the list, just go directly to an agent location nearest you.

If you encounter any problem, you may contact the Western Union customer service hotline in your area. You may also see this on Western Union's website.

Hover over the "Menu" icon to discover the "Pay Inmate" link in the drop-down menu. From there you will be able to locate the "Correctional Facility" link, which includes all the instructions you'll need to complete the transaction. This includes inputting the facility name, the receiver's full name and the inmate's account number in the designated fields.

Indicate the amount you wish to send. You also have the option to choose what type of transfer you want. In this case choose Direct to Bank. Choose your preferred services and input the information required, such as your credit card or debit card number, and your billing address. Be sure to type the correct information. To avoid errors, double-check everything before you continue to confirm the transaction.

In the last step, confirm your money transfer. Once the transfer is completed, you might want to call Western Union's customer service hotline to validate the transaction. When your bank clears your transaction, the money will be deposited directly to the commissary account of the inmate within 1 to 3 business days.

Take note of the MTCN or Money Transfer Control Number. You will need this just in case something goes wrong with the money transfer or if you would need to change some details.

Western Union also allows you to send money to inmate via their mobile app, in-person at any Western Union facility or over the phone by calling 1-800-225-5227. You'll need to be ready to provide the name of the correctional facility, the full name of the inmate, the inmate's account number and the amount of money you wish to transfer. You will then need to supply the account information where you'd like to transfer the money from.