Send Money Home Securely with 'Dinero Seguro,' Money Orders

Today's Holidays Need Today's Mail

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The holidays are a time for families to share and celebrate together, regardless of the miles that separate them.

But when the distance is simply too great, this also is the time of year when many families send money back to their home countries outside the United States.

The U.S. Postal Service offers Dinero Seguro (http://www.usps.com/money/suremoney) and Postal Money Orders for those customers, providing them with a safe, affordable, convenient method of transferring money internationally and domestically.

Dinero Seguro enables customers to send up to $2,000 per transaction per day and is available at 2,800 participating Post Offices across the United States. Identification is required for transfers exceeding $1,000.

The system uses secure, electronic wire transfers between the Postal Service and thousands of participating bank branch offices in designating countries. The recipient's funds are available within 15 minutes, guaranteed, and without hidden, or additional fees.

Personal identification also is required for the recipients of funds in the participating countries. Recipients do not need bank accounts and pay no additional fees in their countries.

"Dinero Seguro provides a secure, electronic way to send money internationally that also reduces the time it takes to receive the funds from days to minutes, " said Paul Vogel, senior vice president and managing director of Global Business.

Dinero Seguro is provided in partnership with Bancomer Transfer Services Inc. of Houston. Participating locations are:

    -- Argentina -- BBVA Banco Frances
    -- Colombia -- Banco Davivienda, BBVA Colombia, Banco Granahorrar
    -- Dominican Republic  -- Banco del Progresso
    -- Ecuador -- Banco de Guayaquil, Banco del Austro, Banco Internacional
    -- El Salvador -- Banco Salvadoreno, Banco Uno, Agricola
    -- Guatemala -- Banco Industrial, Banco Uno, Banco de Desarrollo Rural
    -- Honduras -- Banco Uno, Banco Mercantil
    -- Mexico -- BBVA Bancomer
    -- Nicaragua -- Banco Uno, Banpro
    -- Peru -- Interbank, BBVA Banco Continental

For more information on Dinero Seguro and to find a participating Post Office, customers are asked to call toll free 888-368-4669.

Customers wishing to send money gifts within the United States can purchase Postal Money Orders, a safe, convenient and economical alternative to sending cash through the mail. Money orders can be purchased from any Post Office in the United States as well as from rural letter carriers in denominations up to $1,000. A current government-- or state -- issued identification is required for multiple money order purchases totaling $3,000 in a single day.

Unlike private business checks or other money orders, Postal Money Orders are regarded as one of the more difficult financial documents to counterfeit because of their watermarks, security threads and a rainbow of inked patterns and tones.

Postal Money Orders can be purchased with cash, debit card or traveler's checks and are valid for an unlimited period of time. There is a $1.05 processing fee for money orders up to $500 and a $1.50 fee for money orders above $500.

Additional information on Postal Money Orders can be found online at http://www.usps.com/money/.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail.