MoneyGram a Ripple partner to work with UAE Lulu Exchange

MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), a global leader in cross-border P2P payments and money transfers announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Lulu Money, a leading name in the world of non-banking finance, dealing primarily in foreign exchange and global money transfers.

Lulu Money will utilise the MoneyGram API-driven platform to gain access to leading consumer-centric capabilities and further its global network. The partnership is predicted to capture the majority of the market share in these locations.

The new agreement will extend the MoneyGram and Lulu Money presence in the Asia-Pacific region and Oman, as MoneyGram money transfers will be available through an extensive network of Lulu Money branches, liaison offices, and 50,000+ trusted agents. Currently, remittance outflows to East Asia and the Pacific account for $149 billion and are forecasted to increase in the coming years. Additionally, according to a recent UN Report, technological innovation in the remittance marketplace could help enable financial inclusion for hundreds of millions of people in the Asia-Pacific region.

"This partnership will revolutionize how the region manages its high volume of remittances, launching unique services into the market, changing the way people approach digital transactions and remittances. We believe this marks a new era for digital money transfers and remittances in the Asia-Pacific region and the world," said Adeeb Ahmed, Managing Director of Lulu Financial Group.

Speaking on the sidelines of the signing, Alex Holmes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at MoneyGram said, “Lulu Money has made a major push to digitize its money transfer business through this partnership. MoneyGram looks forward to working with them to create new innovative products and services that extend our digital reach and bring financial inclusion to customers throughout the Asia-Pacific market.”

This digital transformation will complement Lulu Money to help with customer acquisition and business volume growth. Launched in 2009, Lulu Money’s multi-channel payments platform facilitates e-wallet capabilities, instant cross-border remittances, bill payments, and other features, to its 5 million-strong customer base with 1.1 million transactions annually.

In 2018 Lulu Exchange had announced it would be working with HC Net for cross border payments but nothing seems to have come out of this partnership. 

In November Ripple made a substantial investment in MoneyGram which was seen as a partnership that would allow further growth and customer centric services for MoneyGram.

Ripple had previously partnered with UAE Exchange which is now known as Finablr. Finablr also recently partnered with Samsung to introduce money transfer feature in Samsung Pay