- New service will permit SMS-based sending
- High limit of $10,000 per transaction in place
"With the launch of the new FastSend service, sending money is now as easy as sending a text", says CEO
International money transfer firm MoneyGram has announced a new service which allows cash to be sent directly to a phone number.
The firm’s new FastSend™ service is happening in conjunction with Visa Direct, on whose rails the new service will operate.
Described by the firm as a “revolutionary new product”, the service is easily accessible for customers.
All a customer has to do to use the service is to go to the MoneyGram website or, indeed, its mobile app.
From there, the recipient’s name and phone number need to be added.
An option to use FastSend can be chosen.
On the receipt side, the receiver will get an SMS to alert them of the transaction.
Upon logging in and associating their debit card with their account, the recipient can access their funds in just a few minutes.
It will cost $1.99 per transaction when coming from a debit card.
In an unusual move, the maximum amount which can be sent will be relatively high at $10,000.
According to Alex Homes, who serves as chief executive officer and chairman of MoneyGram, the new service will “further MoneyGram’s leading position”.
"With the launch of the new FastSend service, sending money is now as easy as sending a text", he said.
"FastSend builds on the success of our extremely popular mobile app and will further MoneyGram's leading position in the evolution of digital P2P payments.”
Kamila Chytil, who is MoneyGram’s chief operating officer and responsible for digital initiatives at the company, added that the company was “excited” about the move.
"Over the last few years, we've invested in our digital business to build a fintech start-up powered by our leading global brand”, she said.
“Our digital business is quickly becoming the leading cross-border P2P payment solution, and we're excited to launch FastSend to further accelerate our digital growth”, she added.
Mobile phones are somewhat ubiquitous in the modern age, and so in some ways it’s not surprising to see MoneyGram deciding to invest in this project.
However, it might come as something of a shock in other ways.
In the past, online money transfer firms have tended to put all of their mobile eggs in the app basket rather than opting for the “send to phone number” route.
For MoneyGram, this has certainly long since been the case: its app has been up and running for years, but the send to phone number option is being presented as the firm “[building] on the success” of its app.
There’s no explanation for why this ordering occurred, but one possible reason is that there were technical barriers in place that only the support of Visa Direct could fix.
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