WHAT IS MONEYGRAM

What is MoneyGram

MoneyGram is a lot like a Western Union money transfer company. This offers services like money transfers, money orders and bill payments to those who don't have bank accounts or who don't want to use their usual bank account.

MoneyGram services are available in a number of pharmacies and stores, as well as independent local shops, bus stations and check-cashing locations, making it very easy if you're in a mess. We claim to have 350,000 pick-up locations worldwide, but purchases can only be conducted in the US and a handful of other nations.

"MoneyGram International, Inc. is a US-based money transfer company headquartered in Dallas,   Texas, United States. It has a St. Louis Park, Minnesota operations center and national and local offices across the globe."

MoneyGram companies are divided into two categories: Global Funds Transactions and Financial Paper Goods. Via a network of agents and financial institutions, the company delivers its service to individuals and businesses.

MoneyGram was the second-largest money transfer company in the world in 2014. The business works with a worldwide network of about 347,000 agent offices in more than 200 countries and territories.

Please remember that this service is used very frequently for fraud due to the lack of a provision for all users to display proper identification.

This is how it functions:

When you are sending from a branch office you can fill out some paperwork that can be done online as well. You then use the currency, credit or debit card, or a bank account to send the money to MoneyGram. Often fees are applied depending on the transaction method and also the location of the destination of the money.

Since MoneyGram operates as a bank, they don't have to carry the money to your destination. What they need to do is wait for the money to come in and inform the branch of the destination that you've sent money.

What is MoneyGram

MoneyGram sends you a number when you send the money that you tell the receiver afterward. The receiver will go to their local branch after a couple of hours or days and collect the money using that number as well as some sort of identification that matches the original paperwork.

In summary, MoneyGram operates very much like your own bank as you deposit money at one location that can be collected from another location (such as an ATM or another branch). The main difference is that the money is not received by you, it is a designated recipient.

History Of MoneyGram

MoneyGram International was created by the merger of two companies, Travelers Express based in Minneapolis and Integrated Payment Systems Inc based in Denver.MoneyGram was first formed as an Integrated Payment Systems subsidiary and later became an independent corporation until it was purchased by Travelers in 1998. Travelers Express became what is currently known as MoneyGram International back in 2004.

Travelers Express Ltd, headquartered in Minneapolis. Founded in 1940 Inc. In 1965, The Greyhound Corporation (now known as Viad Corp) purchased Travelers Express and became the nation's largest supplier of money orders until launching a corporate reorganization program in 1993.

In 1988, MoneyGram was founded as a subsidiary of Integrated Payment Systems Inc. Integrated Payment Systems was a First Data Corporation affiliate, which was itself an American Express affiliate. First Data was spun off from American Express in 1992 and listed publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. First Data Corporation eventually merged with the founders of competitor Western Union, First Financial. The Federal Trade Commission had pressured First Data to sell Integrated Payment Systems to allow the merger.

Under the stewardship of John Bavister, Thomas Cook Global Foreign Exchange launched a re-engineered money transfer operation in 1994. Branded as MoneyGram, the company saw a collaboration with First Data Corp, the multinational travel giant.

Integrated Payment Systems, the second-largest non-bank consumer money transfer company in the world, became its own publicly-traded company in 1996 and was renamed MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. In 1997, former Western Union president James F. Calvano became CEO of MoneyGram Payment Systems. By the late 1990s, MoneyGram Payment Systems had served consumers at more than 22,000 locations in 100 countries.

Moneygram International Ltd. was founded by MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. and Thomas Cook in 1997, one year after the company had gone public. At the time of the establishment of MoneyGram International, MoneyGram Payment Systems owned 51 percent of the business while the other 49 percent controlled the Thomas Cook Group.

MoneyGram International (1998–present)

Viad Corp purchased $287 million for MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. in April 1998. MoneyGram was then incorporated into Minneapolis ' Travelers Express of Viad. The Moneygram brand and company were sold to Travelex in November 2000 as part of their £ 400 million purchase of Thomas Cook Financial Services.

Travelers Express became full owners of the MoneyGram network in 2003, including MoneyGram International. Later that year, Viad spun off as an independent company, Travelers Express. In January 2004, MoneyGram International Inc was renamed Travelers Express. Viad sold MoneyGram in June 2004 and it became a publicly owned, private company.

By 2006, MoneyGram International had grown to include more than 96,000 agents in regions like the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Central America. The business has launched new programs, such as bill payment and cash transfers online.

MoneyGram's shares dropped 96 percent from 2007 to 2009 during the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It lost more than $1.6 billion from investments in securities backed by risky mortgages in 2008, and the losses forced the company to sell a majority stake in return for a cash injection to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Goldman Sachs. During the fall, U.S. Bancorp moved its cash transfer business to Western Union. The business again became profitable in 2009.

During the restructuring of MoneyGram, Pamela Paisley became the company's executive chair in January 2009 and was then named CEO in September of that year. MoneyGram formally moved its regional headquarters to Dallas, Texas, in November 2010. The organization resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, maintaining regional operations and information technology centers.

MoneyGram had begun exploring a sale in 2013. MoneyGram ended a relationship with Wal-Mart Stores in 2014 and then began restructuring to reduce costs. Shares dropped by around 70 percent from their height in 2013 until late 2015. MoneyGram closed down a call center in Lakewood, Colorado that resulted in more than 500 layoffs. In addition, in 2015 MoneyGram closed its operation of the 376-person Brooklyn Center. Moneygram has transferred several positions from its locations in Colorado and Minnesota to Warsaw, Poland to further cut costs. The company's network of agents in Africa hit 25,000 locations in 2015, including a contract with the Mauritius Post Office.

MoneyGram's shares doubled in value between the late October of 2016 and January of 2017. Ant Financial Services Group announced on January 26, 2017, an agreement to purchase MoneyGram International for $880 million; the transaction subsequently failed after it was rejected by the United States Committee on Foreign Investment.

MoneyGram revealed in 2017 that it will use Mitek's Mobile Verify to confirm the identification of its customers. The Moneygram customers simply take a photo of their passport or other identification document using their mobile device camera to complete the identity verification phase in the money transfer process.

Moneygram revealed on 17 June 2019 that they were working with Ripple to use the digital asset XRP for cross-border remittance purposes.

MoneyGram Bill Payments Systems-allowing customers to make immediate payments to other creditors or to pay regular bills.

Leading Rivals

Some of the major competitors at MoneyGram include:

Western Union

CurrencyFair

Travelex

Ria Money Transfer

TransferMate

Xoom

TransferWise

Financial paper

Money Orders- is the second largest provider of money orders. 

Legal Checks-MoneyGram provides legal check-outsourcing services available in the United States to financial institutions. Consumers use official checks where a payee needs a check taken from a bank and financial institutions to pay their own obligations.

Lawsuits

MoneyGram International acknowledged breaches of the anti-money laundering and wire fraud in November 2012. Unrelated groups involved in mass marketing and online phishing scams have used MoneyGram programs, which have defrauded thousands of victims in the United States.MoneyGram developed a 100 million dollar victim compensation fund as part of the settlement. MoneyGram has appointed a compliance investigator who would report annually over a five-year probation period to the US Department of Justice. Unless MoneyGram fulfills its settlement commitments, prosecutors will seek dismissal of the wire fraud charges for facilitating and promoting wire fraud.MoneyGram has fired any agents involved in the 2009 scams and spent over $84 million in strengthening the company's customer anti-fraud programs and informal education for customers. MoneyGram helped a Houston reporter shut down a fraud scam in February 2015, after finding a scheme that used an account with the company.

MoneyGram decided in February 2016 that it would pay $13 million to end an investigation arising from consumer allegations that scam artists duped them into transferring funds through the money transfer company. According to various state attorneys general announcements, the deal, with attorneys general in 49 states and Washington, D.C., provides $9 million for a federal fund that will promote the return of money to certain MoneyGram customers, and $4 million to cover expenses and fees for states.

The System of Philanthropy

In 2013, MoneyGram launched the MoneyGram Foundation which focuses on providing grants to support education internationally. During its first year of operations, the MoneyGram Foundation administered grants during 19 nations. The Foundation obtains the majority of its support from MoneyGram International and expands on the existing Global Donation Initiative from MoneyGram.

Global Giving made a $100,000 donation to World Vision International by MoneyGram for education and school supplies, as well as another $30,000 donation for the Dallas Girls Exploring Math and Science initiative.

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, MoneyGram engaged in humanitarian aid by lowering their fees to only $1 for any transfers to Haiti, along with a $10,000 donation to the Pan American Development Foundation and American Red Cross. In 2012, MoneyGram donated to the relief efforts of Hurricane Sandy by promising to donate $1 per transaction to the American Red Cross for up to $200,000.

Amid disasters like Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the foundation has also contributed to further relief efforts. The company has also invested through the MoneyGram Foundation in the One Laptop per Child program and Habitat for Humanity.

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