Really depends on which country you need to transfer cash to but the best and safest way surely has to be bank to bank transfers. For Europe we have IBAN + BIC and it's free. Done a search on Google for you and there's some information below that you may find useful.

I used to work overseas about 7 years ago and did have to use Western Union services now and again. Great thing about Western Union is that it's quick and reliable. But should tell you that I re-call 1 instance where Western Union held cash belonging to me for 2 days. Can't remember why. The cash was for my landlord. Literally transferred cash from the UK to the Netherlands to pay my rent via Western Union as the landlord was asking for it ;-)

IBAN, BIC and SWIFT explained

In brief: SWIFT bank transfers are available worldwide; SWIFT codes are similar to BIC. Free cross border IBAN bank transfers within EU countries. BIC + IBAN details are printed on EU/EEA bank statements. google_ad_client = "pub-9484978391734415"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; google_ad_format = "468x60_as"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_ad_channel ="7271953137"; google_color_border = ["FFFFFF","B0E0E6","B4D0DC","CCCCCC"]; google_color_bg = ["FFFFFF","FFFFFF","ECF8FF","FFFFFF"]; google_color_link = ["AA0000","000000","0000CC","000000"]; google_color_url = ["AA0000","336699","008000","666666"]; google_color_text = ["000000","333333","6F6F6F","333333"]; google_protectAndRun("render_ads.js::google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);

BIC + IBAN is often the cheapest way to transfer money internationally and is now free of charge* in much of Europe under EU/EEA directive 2560/2001. BIC + IBAN international bank transfers are faster, more efficient, and low-cost as they are sent directly through the SWIFT interbank network without using intermediary banks (who deduct charges or fees for their service). IBAN will be progressively introduced in most OECD countries to allow Straight Through Processing of cross border payments.

BIC + IBAN is not available in the United States of America, nor is it likely to be, with the decentralized structure of the US banking system and lack of nationwide banks. Electronic account-to-account transfers are often called wire or ACH transfers in the USA.