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Tag: MoneyGram

  • Singapore Fintech Partners MoneyGram

    Singapore Fintech Partners MoneyGram

    The integration and implementation of Lightnet’s technology with MoneyGram’s money transfer services will provide customers with a wide selection of payout services across Southeast Asia.

    The Singapore-headquartered fintech company will provide its Bridgenet solution to enable money transfer operators to connect with MoneyGram’s money transfer service, broadening the range of payout services, the company said in an announcement.

    The success of this collaboration reflects Lightnet’s commitment towards improving the efficiency, convenience, affordability and accessibility of cross-border remittances. Lightnet is working tirelessly to make these kinds of services available to everyone, Tridbodi Arunanondchai, group CEO and vice chairman of Lightnet, said.

    Lightnet was co-founded in 2018 by Chatchaval Jiaravanon – a family member of the Charoen Pokphand group in Thailand – and Arunanondchai, a tech entrepreneur and former investment banker.

    The startup raised $31.2 million in 2020, in a Series A funding round led by UOB Venture Management. It also partnered Swiss crypto bank Seba to offer remittance services for migrant workers in Asia, and partnered Velo Labs and Visa to serve the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) lending market.

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  • Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys WorldFirst for $700m

    Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys WorldFirst for $700m

    Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial says it plans to buy UK-headquartered money-transfer company WorldFirst. And in separate news, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth is in discussions over investing in the Metro China wholesale retail business.

    The WorldFirst deal will allow Ant Financial to gain market share in Europe’s fintech and payments industries and will give it an established retail network of currency-exchange stores covering cities including Sydney, Australia; London and Amsterdam, as well as throughout Asia. It has 600 employees in seven international offices and claims to have exchanged more than US$67 billion for 130,000 customers since its launch in 2004.

    The company also had outlets in the US but has reportedly closed these to avoid potential regulatory hurdles with the sale to a Chinese-owned business.

    Ant Financial last year unsuccessfully tried to acquire US-based money-transfer company MoneyGram, largely due to opposition from US lawmakers.

    Metro move

    Meanwhile, Alibaba is in talks to buy a share of German wholesaler Metro AG’s Chinese business.

    Neither company has confirmed or denied the talks are underway and they are at an early stage and may break down.

    Metro China operates 95 stores and struggled to achieve profitability in the market until recently. Metro sales in Asia rose 7 per cent to US$1.17 billion in the December quarter.  Most of the Metro China stores are in tier 1 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

    Metro is holding talks with other parties as well ahead of an official sale process.

    Olaf Koch, Metro’s CEO, confirmed this week that the company was considering potential partnerships with Chinese companies. Metro and Alibaba have already cooperated online.

    “We are growing continually and we are profitable [in China],” Koch said at the time Metro released its first-quarter results.

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  • MoneyGram Inks Deal with Arsema, Expands to Indonesia

    MoneyGram Inks Deal with Arsema, Expands to Indonesia

    MoneyGram recently announced that its Indonesian subsidiary PT MoneyGram Payments System has inked a long-term deal with Indonesian remittance company Arsema. Per the agreement, Arsema would channel MoneyGram’s money transfer services at all post offices of Indonesia. The services would start from Central Java and Bali region.

    MoneyGram strives to provide secure money transfer services to its customers and the deal with Arsema will further help the company in its efforts. This collaboration will also expand MoneyGram’s reach across Indonesia. Also, the aforesaid deal will facilitate operation to serve customers better with faster and more convenient offerings.

    The overall process has become much easier and can be completed in a few simple steps. Customers can now simply visit any MoneyGram agent location and start transferring and receiving funds after filling up and submitting a form and displaying a photo identification proof. The funds can be ready for collection is Depending on agent’s operating hours and regulatory requirements, the transactions can be made within 10 minutes or less.

    Apart from strengthening its presence in high-growth potential markets, MoneyGram has forayed into several unexplored and underdeveloped global markets. The company has also been expanding in markets that offer high growth potential. Per the World Bank report, remittances worth $9.6 billion flowed into Indonesia in Apr 2016. We expect the latest deal to help the company capitalize on the opportunity, which in turn, should add to its top line going forward.