MoneyGram
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MoneyGram International, Inc
MoneyGram International, Inc. is an American
money transfer company based in the
United States with headquarters in
Dallas, Texas.
[3] It has an operations center in
St. Louis Park, Minnesota and regional and local offices around the world. MoneyGram businesses are divided into two categories: Global Funds Transfers and Financial Paper Products.
[4] The company provides its service to individuals and businesses through a network of
agents and
financial institutions.
In 2014, MoneyGram was the second largest provider of money transfers in the world.
[5][6][7] The company operates in more than 200 countries and territories with a global network of about 347,000 agent offices.
[4]
Contents
History[edit]
MoneyGram International formed as a result of two businesses merging,
Minneapolis-based Travelers Express and
Denver-based Integrated Payment Systems Inc.[
citation needed] MoneyGram was first established as a subsidiary of Integrated Payment Systems and afterwards became independent company before it was acquired by Travelers in 1998.
[8][9] In 2004, Travelers Express became what is known today as MoneyGram International.
MoneyGram Systems (1988–1997)[edit]
MoneyGram was formed in 1988 as a subsidiary of Integrated Payment Systems Inc.
[12][13][14] Integrated Payment Systems was a subsidiary of
First Data Corporation, which was itself a subsidiary of
American Express.
[8] In 1992, First Data was spun off from American Express and publicly traded on the
New York Stock Exchange.
[8][15] First Data Corporation later merged with First Financial, the owners of rival
Western Union.
[8] In order to approve the merger, the
Federal Trade Commission forced First Data to sell Integrated Payment Systems.
[13]
Thomas Cook Global Foreign Exchange, under the stewardship of John Bavister, launched a re-engineered money transfer service in 1994. Branded as MoneyGram, the venture saw the partnering of the global travel giant with First Data Corp.
In 1996, Integrated Payment Systems, the nation's second largest non-bank consumer money transfer business, became its own publicly traded company and was renamed MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc.
[15][13] In 1997, James F. Calvano, former president of Western Union, became MoneyGram Payment Systems CEO.
[12] By the late 1990s, MoneyGram Payment Systems had served customers at over 22,000 locations in 100 countries.
[12][15]
MoneyGram International Ltd. was established in 1997 by MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. and Thomas Cook,
[16] a year after the company had gone public.
[12] At the time when MoneyGram International was established, MoneyGram Payment Systems owned 51 percent of the company, while the other 49 percent was owned by the
Thomas Cook Group.
[17][18]