Ripple Involved? MoneyGram Launches MGO in Brazil

MoneyGram International announced the launch of MoneyGram Online (“MGO”) in Brazil yesterday. The XRP community immediately reacted positively to the announcement, as the new service by MoneyGram is made possible through a partnership with Frente Corretora, one of Ripple’s partners in Brazil.

However, Ripple is not mentioned by name in the announcement. The relationship status between MoneyGram and the fintech from San Francisco continues to appear complicated.

As the press release states, consumers can now use the company’s website to send funds from Brazil to family and friends around the world in near real-time. Recipients can receive the funds through the company’s various options, while the service comes with no transaction fees.

“As we continue to execute our strategy to grow and expand MoneyGram Online geographically, I am thrilled to announce that our website is now officially live in Brazil,” said Alex Holmes, chairman and CEO of MoneyGram.

Holmes added, “This is a significant growth opportunity for MoneyGram to capture market share in a country with one of the largest populations in the world.”

Is The Partnership Between Ripple And MoneyGram Reviving?

MoneyGram emphasized that the service is made possible through a partnership with Frente Corretora, a Brazilian fintech company.  Frente Corretora aims to become the “Transferwise of Brazil” by using Ripple’s technology to offer low-cost money transfers, Crowdfund Insider reported in June 2019. A month earlier, the broker launched the “Simple” service in partnership with Ripple.

As stated at the time, the joint venture’s main concept is to make money transfers fast and seamless, while eliminating fees typically charged by banks. In addition, correspondents connected to the Front Exchange are expected to become exchange fintechs through the white label tool (Frente Corretora de Câmbio).

However, the role of Ripple’s technology is not specifically mentioned in the press release by MoneyGram. Whether it plays a role is therefore pure speculation. The announcement does not show any evidence that XRP will be used.

Still, the announcement is worth mentioning because of the complicated history between Ripple and MoneyGram. The two companies entered into a partnership in 2019, under which the San Francisco-based company acquired a $30 million stake in the company and allowed MoneyGram to use the XRP-based ODL service for cross-border payments.

However, the partnership came to an abrupt end when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple for violating securities laws in December 2020. As a result, MoneyGram suspended its partnership with the fintech company in March 2021.

Nevertheless, CEO Brad Garlinghouse emphasized at the time that both parties are committed to forging new partnerships in the future.

At press time, the XRP price bounced off the key support area and was trading at $0.3439.

Featured image from South China Morning Post, Chart from TradingView.com