MoneyGram International Inc. is a money transfer company based in the United
States with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. It has an operation center in St.
Louis Park, Minnesota and regional and local offices around the world.
MoneyGram is a public company and listed under the ticker symbol MGI. MoneyGram
businesses are divided into two categories: Global Funds Transfers and
Financial Paper Products. The company works with individuals and businesses
through a network of agents and financial institution customers.
MoneyGram is the second largest provider of money transfers in the world. The
company operates in more than 200 countries with a global network of about
347,000 agent offices. History
MoneyGram International was a result of two businesses merging,
Minneapolis-based Travelers Express and Denver-based Integrated Payment Systems
Inc. MoneyGram was initially established as a subsidiary of Integrated Payment
Systems and then became independent company before it was acquired by
Travelers in 1998. In 2004, Travelers Express became what is known today as
MoneyGram International. = Travelers Express =
Minneapolis-based Travelers Express Co. Inc. was founded in 1940. Travelers
Express, a subsidiary of Viad Corporation, became the nation's largest
provider of money orders before initiating a company reorganization plan
in 1993. By the late 1990s, MoneyGram Payment Systems had served customers at
over 22,000 locations in 100 countries. = MoneyGram Payment Systems =
MoneyGram was formed in 1988 as a subsidiary of Integrated Payment Systems
Inc. Integrated Payment Systems was a subsidiary of First Data Corporation,
which was itself a subsidiary of American Express. In 1992, First Data
was spun off from American Express and publicly traded on the New York Stock
Exchange. First Data Corporation later merged with First Financial, the owners
of rival Western Union. In order to approve the merger, the Federal Trade
Commission forced First Data to sell Integrated Payment Systems.
In 1996, Integrated Payment Systems, the nation's second largest non-bank
consumer money transfer business, became its own publicly traded company and was
renamed MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. In 1997, James F. Calvano, former
president of Western Union, became MoneyGram Payment Systems CEO.
MoneyGram International Ltd. was established in 1997 by MoneyGram Payment
Systems Inc. a year after the company had gone public. At the time when
MoneyGram International was established, MoneyGram Payment Systems owned 51
percent of the company, while the other 49 percent was owned by the Thomas Cook
Group. = MoneyGram International =
In April 1998, Viad acquired MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. for $287 million.
MoneyGram was then folded into Viad's Travelers Express in Minneapolis.
In 2003, Travelers Express gained full ownership of the MoneyGram network,
including MoneyGram International. Later that year, Viad spun off Travelers
Express as an independent company. In January 2004 and Travelers Express was
renamed to MoneyGram International Inc. In June 2004, Viad sold MoneyGram and it
became a publicly traded, individual entity.
By 2006, MoneyGram International had expanded internationally to include over
96,000 agents in regions such as the Asian-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and
Central America. The company had also introduced additional services such as
bill payment and online money transfers. During the financial crisis, MoneyGram's
shares fell 96 percent from 2007 to 2009. It lost more than $1.6 billion
from investments in securities backed by risky mortgages in 2008, and the losses
led the company to sell a majority stake to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Goldman
Sachs in exchange for a cash infusion. During the drop, U.S. Bancorp shifted
its money transfer services to Western Union. The company began to see
profitability again in 2009. Amid MoneyGram's turnaround, Pamela
Patsley became the executive chairman of the company in January 2009 and was
later named CEO in September of that year. In November 2010, MoneyGram
officially relocated its global headquarters to the city of Dallas,
Texas. The company continues to maintain global operations and information
technology centers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 2015, the company's agent network in Africa reached 25,000 locations,
including an agreement with the Mauritius Post Office.
Products = Global Funds Transfers =
MoneyGram Money Transfer MoneyGram Bill Payments Services -
allowing consumers to make urgent payments or pay routine bills to certain
creditors. = Financial Paper Products =
Money Orders - MoneyGram is the second largest money order supplier.
Official Checks - MoneyGram offers official check outsourcing services
which are available to financial institutions in the United States.
Official Checks are used by consumers where a payee requires a check drawn on
a bank and by financial institutions to pay their own obligations.
Controversy In November 2012, MoneyGram
International admitted to anti-money laundering and wire fraud violations.
MoneyGram services were used by unrelated parties involved in mass
marketing and consumer phishing scams that defrauded thousands of victims in
the United States. As a part of the settlement, MoneyGram created a $100
million victim compensation fund. MoneyGram also retained a corporate
monitor who will report regularly to the United States Department of Justice for
a five-year trial period. If MoneyGram fulfills its obligations under the
settlement, prosecutors will seek dismissal of the charges of aiding and
abetting wire fraud. MoneyGram also terminated any agents complicit in the
2009 scams and invested more than $84 million in improvements to the company's
consumer anti-fraud systems and consumer awareness education. In February 2015,
MoneyGram assisted a local Houston reporter in shutting down a fraud scam
after discovering a scheme that utilized an account with the company.
Philanthropy MoneyGram launched the MoneyGram
Foundation in 2013, which focuses on distributing grants internationally to
support education. The MoneyGram Foundation distributed grants in 19
countries in its first year of operations. The Foundation gets the bulk
of its funding from MoneyGram International, and builds on MoneyGram's
previous Global Giving Program. Through MoneyGram, Global Giving made a
donation of $100,000 to World Vision International for education and school
supplies, and another donation of $30,000 for the Girls Exploring Math and
Science program in Dallas. MoneyGram participated in relief aid
following the 2010 Haiti earthquake by reducing their fees to only $1 for any
transactions to Haiti along with a $10,000 grant to Pan American
Development Foundation and American Red Cross. In 2012, MoneyGram contributed to
Hurricane Sandy relief efforts by pledging to donate $1 per transaction up
to $200,000 to the American Red Cross. The foundation has also contributed to
other relief efforts following events such as Typhoon Haiyan in the
Philippines. The company has also participated in the One Laptop per Child
initiative and Habitat for Humanity through the MoneyGram Foundation.
Alternative providers Ria Financial Services
Transfast Western Union
CurrencyFair References
External links Official Site