Payment company MoneyGram has signed a partnership with LuLu Money

MoneyGram plans to power its Asia Pacific growth with a new partnership with non-banking finance company LuLu Money.

The deal will see MoneyGram’s money transfer services be available through Lulu Money’s branches, liaison offices and over 50,000 trusted agents.

In return, LuLu Money will be able to tap into MoneyGram’s API-driven platform to gain access to leading consumer-centric capabilities and further its global network.

“LuLu Money has made a major push to digitise its money transfer business through this partnership,” said Alex Holmes, chairman and CEO at MoneyGram. “MoneyGram looks forward to working with them to create new innovative products and services that extend our digital reach and bring financial inclusion to customers throughout the Asia-Pacific market.”

Adeeb Ahmed, managing director of LuLu Financial Group, seemed equally excited. “This partnership will revolutionise how the region manages its high volume of remittances, launching unique services into the market, changing the way people approach digital transactions and remittances,” he said. “We believe this marks a new era for digital money transfers and remittances in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.”

The news comes after MoneyGram attracted $50m from fellow money transfer company Ripple in November.

In 2017, Ant Financial, the Alibaba-owned financial services company, announced it planned to buy MoneyGram. However, US authorities blocked the merger between the US and the Chinese companies about a year later over security concerns, Reuters reported at the time.

The torpedoed deal has been seen as a casualty of the trade war between China and the US.

When the US government blocked the deal, Holmes said, “The geopolitical environment has changed considerably since we first announced the proposed transaction with Ant Financial nearly a year ago. Despite our best efforts to work cooperatively with the US government, it has now become clear that CFIUS will not approve this merger.

“We are disappointed in the termination of this compelling transaction, which would have created significant value for our stakeholders. The MoneyGram board and management team greatly appreciate the significant time and energy that so many of our colleagues have devoted to trying to complete the transaction.”

Last week the US and China singed a new trade deal that has the potential of ending the trade war.

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