MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MoneyGram Partners with InTouch, MFS Africa, Thunes to Expand Options for Sending Remittances to Mobile Wallets

MoneyGram International, a money transfer company based in the US, recently announced partnerships with three companies that facilitate e-wallet services in Africa: InTouch, which is based in Senegal; MFS Africa, which is based in South Africa; and Thunes of Singapore. The partnerships are giving MoneyGram “access to mobile wallets in 28 markets in Africa,” allowing its customers more choice in how to send money across international borders.

MoneyGram COO Kamila Chytil said, “Our digital business has seen amazing growth over the past several years, and these new partnerships are important milestones as we execute our strategy to accelerate digital growth by expanding access to mobile wallet capabilities. Customer demand for mobile wallets has increased significantly over the last few years and with the onset of the global pandemic, the launch of these strategic partnerships is more important than ever.”

MFS Africa works with a range of financial services providers to connect 200 million digital wallets, enabling “accessible, affordable, inclusive alternatives for remittance/money transfers, microlending, microinsurance, micro-savings, and payments.”

InTouch services allow businesses to “accept all means of payment and distribute a large catalog of digital services.” The firm operates in seven countries with a daily transaction volume of approximately CFA 1 billion (USD 1.85 million).

Thunes is a payment network offering business payments, mass payouts and remittance processing in about 100 countries. It recently raised USD 60 million in equity in a Series B funding round.

MoneyGram is a publicly-traded company based in the city of Dallas. For 2020, it reported total revenues of USD 1.22 billion on total assets of USD 4.67 billion. The company operates in approximately 200 countries via 350,000 service locations, including in partnership with banks, retailers and post offices.

By Bradley Shulman, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Crowdfund Insider article
https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2021/05/175764-moneygram-announces-mobile-wallet-capabilities-expansion-in-africa-through-new-strategic-partnerships/

MoneyGram homepage
http://global.moneygram.com/

InTouch homepage
https://www.intouchgroup.net/

MFS Africa homepage
https://mfsafrica.com/

Thunes homepage
https://www.thunes.com/

Thunes press release on series B funding round
https://www.thunes.com/2021/05/18/insight-partners-backs-cross-border-payment-leader-thunes-with-us60-million-growth-round/

MoneyGram 2020 financial statement
https://ir.moneygram.com/static-files/de4a269e-8d7b-4a1f-888d-bb9e89981a60

Previous MicroCapital article on MoneyGram – Airtel Africa partnership
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-moneygram-international-airtel-africa-to-offer-mobile-remittances/

Previous MicroCapital article on MFS Africa
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-numida-of-uganda-raises-2-3m-in-equity-to-scale-digital-lending-in-partnership-with-mfs-africa/

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