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Wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. and Walmart Inc. announced a new international service Tuesday dubbed Walmart2World that the companies say enables recipients to get funds in as little as 10 minutes.
The long-time partners also renewed for two years the contract under which Walmart offers MoneyGram’s various money-transfer and bill-pay services in its stores. Walmart remains Dallas-based MoneyGram’s biggest agent, accounting for 17% of revenues last year, according to a MoneyGram regulatory filing. MoneyGram’s share price shot up nearly 9% Tuesday morning in the wake of today’s news.
With Walmart2World, customers can do the entire sending procedure at U.S. Walmart stores, start a transaction through Walmart’s mobile app and complete it in a store, or do a transfer through walmart.com, according to a spokesperson for the Bentonville, Ark.-based mega-retailer.
Pricing is $4 to send up to $50, $8 for transfers of $51 to $1,000, and $16 for $1,001 to a maximum of $2,500. Walmart says its pricing plan differs from other international transfer services in that fees do not change depending on where the sender and receiver are located.
Recipients can pick up their money at MoneyGram agent locations in 200 countries or opt to receive it at banks or through mobile-wallet accounts.
In the wake of opposition from the federal government, China’s Ant Financial Services Group in January abandoned plans to acquire MoneyGram. In 2014, Walmart hired Ria, the wire-transfer subsidiary of Leawood, Kan.-based Euronet Worldwide Inc., to offer domestic store-to-store transfers, and cut prices on the service a year ago.
