By Chris Wack


MoneyGram International Inc. said it is partnering with the Stellar Development Foundation to roll-out of a global on/off-ramp service for digital wallets to increase the utility of digital assets by creating a bridge between cash and cryptocurrencies.

The service, first announced in October 2021, is now available in a number of remittance markets, including Canada, Kenya, Philippines and the U.S., with global cash-out functionality expected to be available by the end of June 2022, the company said Friday.

It said the new service is powered by the Stellar blockchain and Stellar-enabled digital wallets, MoneyGram's retail agent network, and Circle's USD Coin, a fully-reserved dollar digital currency.

The service provides cash users access to the world of cryptocurrency via any participating MoneyGram location. To support adoption, MoneyGram said it will offer this as a zero-fee service for the first 12 months.

Consumers can now go into a MoneyGram location to either load their digital wallets, or cash-out their digital currencies to increase the utility of their holdings, MoneyGram said.

The company said it will expand access to the cash-in service into seven more countries by the end of June, at which point cash-out functionality will also be available globally, where permitted by law.

Earlier this month, MoneyGram said it was partnering to launch MoneyGram's international money-transfer capabilities on Mobily Pay for consumers in Saudi Arabia. In January, the company said it entered a strategic partnership with Smiles Mobile Remittance-owner Digital Wallet Corp. so consumers in Japan can use the Smiles mobile app powered by MoneyGram's global payment rails and near real-time capabilities to send money.


Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-10-22 1353ET