MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI) (“MoneyGram” or the “Company”), a leading global financial technology company that connects the world’s communities, has been named winner of the “Best Use of Blockchain in FinTech” award at the 2023 FinTech Breakthrough Awards. This program is conducted by FinTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global fintech market today.
“We’re thrilled to be recognized for our progressive innovation by this prestigious awards program for the world’s leading fintechs,” said Alex Holmes, MoneyGram Chairman and CEO. “At MoneyGram, we are proud of the work we’re doing to pioneer cross-border payment innovation and excited about the new opportunities we’re creating to connect the world’s communities like never before.”
This honor recognizes the Company’s first-of-its-kind global on/off-ramp service for digital wallets on the Stellar blockchain network. Through an innovative partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the non-profit that supports the growth of the open-source public blockchain Stellar, MoneyGram is helping to solve one of digital currencies’ biggest challenges: interoperability with the traditional financial system.
“The Stellar Development Foundation’s mission is to create equitable access to the global financial system using blockchain technology,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of SDF. “Our collaboration with MoneyGram is a prime example of how we can remove friction and improve user choice and access to financial services, by recognizing our complementary strengths and working together to deliver new utility to the world.”
By creating a bridge between digital assets and local currency, MoneyGram enables users to seamlessly move cash to cryptocurrency and back to cash again. Consumers who rely on cash for their livelihood can now access the digital economy by visiting participating MoneyGram retail locations worldwide. Also, for the first time, this partnership enables settlement with MoneyGram to occur in near-real-time utilizing Circle’s USDC, a fully-reserved dollar digital currency.
“We believe that blockchain technology has potential to change how money moves around the world,” continued Holmes. “One of the biggest hurdles we face in the cross-border payments industry is liquidity that’s trapped due to pre-funding requirements and overnight settlement. However, settling through tokenization can ultimately streamline the current process and enhance efficiency, which creates an incredible amount of opportunity in the world of financial services.”
The FinTech Breakthrough Awards is the premier awards program founded to recognize the fintech innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the world in a range of categories, including digital banking, personal finance, payments, investments and more.
“MoneyGram stood out as an organization that embraces self-disruption by integrating with next-generation technology to best serve their customers’ growing digital needs,” said James Johnson, Managing Director at FinTech Breakthrough. “Congratulations to MoneyGram on being our choice for the ‘Best Use of Blockchain in FinTech’ award!”
