Daily Archives: 06/09/2010

MoneyGram Reaches 200,000th Agent Milestone

MoneyGram International, a leading global payment services company, announced that it has successfully expanded its global network to 200,000 agent locations. This significant milestone was reached with the addition of SRD MP and its partner Bimedia, a value-added services provider for tobacco and news retailers throughout France, which will bring MoneyGram money transfer services to 2,500 tobacco shops across the country. SRD MP, which has signed a five-year contract, will serve as a super-agent and will sign additional retail agents across the country. This partnership — MoneyGram’s first in France with a non-bank agent — will create a new channel for distribution, enable key retail network growth opportunities, and dramatically expand MoneyGram’s presence in France. The relationship is a positive example of the European Union’s Payment Services Directive (PSD) instituted in 2009, which allows for retailers and other non-bank organizations to provide payment services that were previously offered only by financial institutions in the EU. In celebration of opening of its 200,000th agent location and in recognition of the events taking place in different regions across the world, MoneyGram is donating a total of $200,000 to non-profit organizations working in El Salvador, China and organizations working in Ivory Coast and Senegal, parts of Africa that rely on remittances from France. Among the agencies receiving funds are the Pan American Development Foundation in El Salvador, ChinaSource in China, Friends of Therese Haury in Ivory Coast, and Grameen Foundation for microfinance programs in Senegal.