MoneyGram’s partnership with Visa and Checkout.com enables transfers to Visa debit cards from 25 European countries.

MoneyGram’s (NASDAQ: MGI) highly successful cross-border transfer service from the United States using Visa (NYSE: V) Direct, which launched in 2019, is now rolling out in Europe. Customers in 25 European countries can now use MoneyGram’s website or mobile app to transfer funds instantly to Visa debit cards. (CISION PR Newswire)

MoneyGram has collaborated with Checkout.com and Visa Direct for the digital person-to-person (P2P) remittance service. Visa Direct is a real-time push payments platform that provides MoneyGram customers with speed, convenience, affordability, and choice in their remittances.

Europe, the pandemic, Visa Direct, and digital payments

Europe is one of the largest “send” markets according to MoneyGram. Accordingly, this service would likely get a huge response.

Further, post-pandemic, digital payments have surged. Earlier this month, the payments giant reported that its direct-to-consumer digital business, MoneyGram Online (MGO), delivered 142% year-over-year cross-border transaction growth in December and reported the largest number of transactions ever in a given month.

The growth rate marked a significant acceleration from the prior year with record online transactions during the holidays driven by strong consumer demand for the app.

In a survey, consumers reported that the pandemic had led to an increase in family and friends requesting to receive money digitally, such as directly into a bank account or a mobile wallet instead of cash.

“Consistent with these findings, in December, MoneyGram achieved its highest month ever for money transfers sent directly to accounts,” the company said in a statement. “Growth was driven by real-time transfers utilizing Visa Direct, which increased over 500% in December as compared to the prior year.”

Alex Holmes, MoneyGram Chairman and CEO, said on the European rollout: “Consumer demand for real-time payments direct to a bank account and mobile wallets continues to surge. As a result, we’re excited to integrate with a leading fintech, Checkout.com, and continue to expand our partnership with Visa Direct. We’re already seeing significant customer adoption, and we expect it to help contribute to strong digital growth in the European market this year.”

Businesses and merchants to benefit

“As Visa accelerates the availability of Visa Direct to merchants in Europe, Checkout.com is proud to power fintechs and merchants alike, helping to unlock the potential of the cross-border payments opportunity, through our cloud-based enterprise Connected Payments platform,” said Guillaume Pousaz, CEO & Founder at Checkout.com.

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