Holy shit lmao this is the default front page of the Western Union page I did not select the countries.

Wiring money to Mexico is likely their biggest business

Like 96% of money send to Mexico comes from the US, cash transfers to Mex make up like 4% of GDP

That is because WU is mainly used to send remittances abroad, of which US --> Mexico transfers are about 1/4 of the total volume.

Avoiding Western Union fees for international transfers to family is one of the few good uses of cryptocurrency.

I don't get it.

When international migrants, primarily workers, send money to their family members in their home countries, these transfers are known as remittances.

The main recipient countries include India (12.6% of the total sent), Mexico (7.5%), China (6.4%), and the Philippines (4.8%). The largest source of remittances is the United States, with more than 25% of all transfers; Saudi Arabia is second with 6.6%.

Remittances from the U.S. to Mexico reached a record $55.9 billion in 2022. These transfers accounted for 95 percent of Mexico’s total remittances of $58.5 billion. Mexican migrants, who number 11 million in the U.S., typically send the funds home to support their families. The average monthly remittance to Mexico was $390 in 2022.

god, i never really thought much about it, but with the juice at 2% WU makes fuckin' bank off of migrant workers. i'm probably slow to the table on this (meaning i bet its happening), but a high value service an undocumented worker organization could provide as an inducement to join the union would be to provide money wiring services at a cost-plus fee in lieu of union dues. the workers would get a much lower rate, a "free" union, and in no time that union would have a war chest for legal services, health savings accounts, work stoppages, maybe even pensions and a probably large network of community credit unions happy to get their little taste.

before the darkweb you'd use western union/moneygram to buy drugs. they used to have insane deals for benzos from serbia, like 1k valium/xanax/klonopin for $250.

When I was married I used to use WU to send money to my wife’s family in Xacatecas.

Lot of laborers here legally or otherwise who remit monies to family back across the border.

remittances and dirty drug cash are what keeps our economy afloat

It's probably registering your IP, and noting that you live within the region that used to be Mexico, where the majority of Mexicans in America live.