The Post Office does not run its own international money transfer. It is a Western Union counter with the Post Office logo above it. The person at the till fills in a Western Union form for you and hands you a Western Union receipt. That is not a scandal, and for some sends the counter is still the right thing to open. For most sends, it is not. Here is the honest picture on 300 pounds today, so you can pick.
Who is behind the counter
The Post Office runs its international money transfer service through Western Union, and only Western Union. It is available at around 4,000 of the roughly 11,600 Post Office branches in the UK, and it also sits online at postoffice.co.uk, where the flow is Western Union with a Post Office skin. On its own page, the Post Office says it plainly: Post Office International Money Transfer is provided by Western Union.
The company that is actually holding your money for those few minutes, and is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to do so, is Western Union Payment Services GB Limited, company number 11326797. Post Office Limited is the shop. If a transfer holds, if a refund gets stuck, if something goes wrong, the customer care line and the email address on the Post Office pages both route to Western Union.
Knowing that changes one small thing and one bigger thing. The small thing is that if you keep sending, it is worth setting up a Western Union profile online, so the counter person can find you in seconds next time. The bigger thing is that when you look up what people say about the service, look up Western Union too, not only the Post Office. That is where the honest picture lives.
What it really costs, on 300 pounds
Here is the honest number, taken from the Wise public comparison feed on 10 and 11 July 2026, on a 300 pound send. The Post Office online quote uses the same Western Union pricing, so this is what the counter is quoting today, give or take a small extra at the branch.
UK to the Philippines. Post Office / Western Union online: 1.99 pound fee, and about 24,331 pesos arrive. Wise at the real exchange rate: 2.41 pound fee, and about 24,529 pesos arrive. Your family gets about 200 pesos less through the Post Office. On this 300 pound send, that comes to about 2.40 pounds. That is the total gap, fee and rate together.
UK to Nigeria. Post Office / Western Union online: 2.99 pound fee, and about 540,641 naira arrive. Wise: 2.31 pound fee, and about 550,158 naira arrive. Your family gets about 9,500 naira less through the Post Office. On this 300 pound send, that comes to about five pounds. Fee and rate together.
UK to India. Post Office / Western Union online: 1.99 pound fee, and about 38,027 rupees arrive. Wise: 2.01 pound fee, and about 38,086 rupees arrive. Your family gets about 60 rupees less through the Post Office. On a 300 pound send that is under 50 pence. On India, this week, the counter is basically level with the cheap app. That is worth saying out loud.
Two honest notes on those numbers. The branch counter can be a small step worse than the online quote. Cash pickup often costs a little more than a bank transfer, and the person at the counter cannot change the rate. Expect the branch to be a little worse than the figures above, not a lot worse. These are also today’s figures. The gap moves. If you are about to send, check the amount your family will actually receive on each option before you press send.
None of this is a scandal. On 300 pounds to three of the largest routes people send on from the UK, the honest extra for using the Post Office is a few pounds. The Post Office is not expensive. It is a small step behind a cheap app on most sends, and on some sends the gap is worth taking.
When the Post Office is genuinely the right thing to open
There is one case where the counter earns its keep, and it is worth saying so plainly.
Your family member has no working bank account or mobile money account they can trust, and they need cash in hand. Somewhere near their village or town, there is a Western Union agent they know how to reach. This is common in Nigeria, and in parts of Ghana, Pakistan, and many rural places elsewhere. In this case the money can be picked up as cash, in minutes, with a receipt on your phone as proof it was sent. No app on your side will land the cash in their hands the way the Western Union network can.
If that is your send, the Post Office counter is a fair choice. You are paying a small quiet extra in the rate for a real service. Do not feel bad about opening it.
Two smaller cases where it also makes sense. You are already near the branch you use, the queue is short, and the money needs to go today: the walk is worth the small extra. Or you are not comfortable putting your bank card into a new app you have not used before, and you want the paper receipt and the person you can ask questions. That is a good reason too.
When to open something else
On most other sends, open Wise and compare the amount your family will actually receive. Send from your phone, pay in from your bank, and your family gets the money into their bank or e-wallet, usually within a working day and often within minutes.
On the Philippines this means Wise into a Philippine bank account, or into GCash if your family uses that. If the receiver has neither, use Wise into a bank account they can share with you, and it lands within hours on most weekdays. See how to send money to the Philippines from the UK for the deeper answer on that route.
On Nigeria the picture is more mixed. If your family has a working Nigerian bank account with a NIN attached and no recent restrictions on it, Wise is usually the honest first choice. If they do not, the Post Office counter and Western Union cash pickup can be the more reliable answer. See how to send money to Nigeria from the UK, and be sure it arrives for the fuller picture on the receiver-side friction.
On India, Wise, Remitly, WorldRemit, ICICI Money2India and State Bank of India are all close on price this week. On a small send to a Wise-supported Indian bank account, the amount that lands is close to what the Post Office would land. Pick whichever you already have set up.
The small print worth carrying with you
You can send up to 799.99 pounds through Western Union without verifying your identity. Above 800 pounds on any transfer, you are asked to upload a photograph of your identity document, once, before the money moves. You only have to do that once.
At the counter, the ID the Post Office lists as accepted is a passport, a driving licence, or a national identity card. UK, EU or EEA in each case. If it is your first counter transfer, add a few minutes for the paperwork.
Your online limit rises to 4,000 pounds every three days once your identity is verified with a card, and up to 50,000 pounds if you pay in from a UK bank account.
If a transfer holds, if you cannot cash out on the other side, or if a refund does not come through, the number that answers is the Western Union customer care line on the Post Office page. That is who you are dealing with, not the postmaster who took your slip. Knowing the right door to knock on saves an afternoon.
The honest verdict
For most sends from the UK to a family bank account or a phone e-wallet abroad, Wise gets a bit more of the money home than the Post Office. On 300 pounds today, the gap runs from under 50 pence on India to about five pounds on Nigeria, with the Philippines around two pounds. It is not a scandal, but it is not free either. Over a year of monthly sends on the Nigeria route, that quiet extra adds up to fifty or sixty pounds. Real money, not nothing.
For a send where your family needs cash in hand, in a place where an app will not land the money for them, the Post Office counter and Western Union behind it are still the right thing to open. That is what the branch network is for.
Whichever way you send, look at the pesos, naira or rupees that arrive at the other end, and send on whichever route puts more of them there.