Join the campaign to demanding Western Union cap its user fees - sign the petition!
Toronto (19 August 2011) - Western Union is the latest target by ACORN Canada for its predatory behaviour regarding financial transfers. Similar to the group's campaign against payday loan companies, ACORN Canada is highlighting the fact that companies such as Western Union, which allows individuals to transfer money electronically across borders, operates on a similar basis: using exorbitant rates and uses deceptive pricing to rip off working families.
Like many payday lenders, Western Union also operate out of shady storefront operations, has predatory fee structures and preys on a lack of consumer protection.
Many use Western Union to send money to their family members back home. Pascal Apuwa, an ACORN member from Metro Vancouver says, "I send whatever I can afford to my friends and family back home – and for every dollar I send Western Union gets 20 cents. I send $100 dollars to help feed people I love, and this massive company keeps $20. That’s wrong, and they need to lower their charges immediately.”
ACORN Canada is calling on Western Union to cap their charges at five per cent - the amount recommended by the World Bank.
Over the summer, leading ACORN Canada members met with the Deputy Minister of Finance in Ottawa to discuss new regulations and a rate cap on the industry and members in Metro Vancouver met with representatives of the Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM) and Consumer Protections BC to discuss provincial regulations and a rate cap.
The campaign has not just gained momentum in Canada but internationally, with ACORN International organizing in India, South America and Kenya to win new regulations as well.
You can add your voice to this call by signing ACORN's petition. Once 5,000 signatures are collected, they will be shipped to Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek’s office in suburban Colorado.
ACORN Canada is an independent national organization representing over 30,000 members from low and moderate income families with a mandate to transform the conditions that adversely affect millions of Canadians through lasting socio-economic change.
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is a national supporter of ACORN Canada.
More information:
ACORN Canada - Western Union - Cut your fees petition
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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