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Ria Money Transfer said it is now the exclusive money-transfer provider at more than 200 U.S. PLS Check Cashers locations, a move that could expose Ria’s services to more than 3 million monthly PLS customers.
Announced Tuesday, the deal enables Chicago-based PLS Financial Services Inc. to offer Ria’s money-transfer service, which includes a network of nearly 600,000 cash-pickup locations in 198 countries. Prior to the Ria announcement, PLS had offered money transfer from The Western Union Co., according to archived pages on its Web site.
Ria, a unit of Leawood, Kan.-based Euronet Worldwide Inc., says the demand for money-transfer services is increasing. It points to a 2023 World Bank report that found the United States is the largest source of remittances, with India, Mexico, and the Philippines top recipient markets.
A historically tight U.S. labor market is one factor in the growth of remittances in 2023, the World Bank says. PLS says many of its customers are immigrants who often send funds to their overseas families. The report also shows that the average cost of sending a remittance in the United States, at 5.7% for sending $200, is the fourth-lowest among G20 countries.
Euronet says its money-transfer transactions totaled 44.3 million in its second quarter, an 8% increase year-over-year. Its money-transfer network had 586,000 locations in the quarter. Its money-transfer segment generated $421.8 million in quarterly revenue, a 6.8% increase from $394.8 million in the same period in 2023. Profit for the segment was nearly flat, at $47.3 million versus $47.2 million a year prior.
Ria says the PLS deal will extend its reach and provide needed services to its customers.
