• Moneygram executives have hailed Stellar as the blockchain for payments.
• The protocol’s negligible fees remain one of its key benefits.

Luther Maday, the Head of Fintech and Innovation at MoneyGram International (MGI) has hailed Stellar Lumens (XLM) as the most obvious and suitable network for the company’s new offering for cross-border payments.

According to Maday, Stellar was specifically designed with cross-border transactions in mind unlike many other blockchains out there. At best, Stellar network offers lower transaction fees almost to the point of being negligible. More so, its union with USD Coin (USDC), a fully-reserved digital dollar stablecoin backed by cash and short-dated U.S. treasuries, makes it the choice of many projects. 

Noteworthy, this is not the first partnership between MoneyGram and Stellar blockchain. In 2021, MoneyGram and the Stellar Development Foundation teamed up to facilitate money transaction settlements through the USDC stablecoin.

MGI Introduces MoneyGram Access on the Stellar Blockchain

MoneyGram International is recognized as a payment giant which has evolved to become one of the few global financial technology companies with a massive client base all around the world. As part of its evolution, MGI is focused on pioneering Web 3.0 and other innovative payment technologies and this translated into the development of MoneyGram Access. 

MoneyGram Access is a platform enabled by the Stellar network which expands access to digital assets and financial services worldwide. basically, It provides users in the participating locations with access to cash-to-crypto on and off-ramps. The integration with the Stellar protocol (SEP-24) offers MGI direct access to the protocol’s network and its ecosystem. This means that MoneyGram also gets exposed to a new client base as Stellar-powered wallets and applications would integrate with MoneyGram Access.

Combined with the USDC, MoneyGram Access users are equipped with more transactional possibilities. Users can transfer funds to other wallets across the globe. At the same time, they can decide to hold on to it for as long as they deem fit and in the process protect themselves against market volatility. Also, whenever there is a need for physical cash, users can withdraw their USDC and collect their local currency in return at a participating MoneyGram location. 

The wallets and applications that integrate with MoneyGram Access would gain direct access to MoneyGram’s huge retail network of kiosks and locations. Hence, users can deposit or withdraw cash from their wallets via USDC on Stellar without needing a bank account. Notably, the decision to leverage a stablecoin was made by MoneyGram in consideration of the unbanked and underbanked with respect to volatile cryptocurrency.

Choosing USDC on Stellar meant that MGI can combine the strengths of a thoroughly-audited fiat-backed stablecoin with a network optimized for quick, easy, and affordable payments. 

Similarly, Web3.0 onboarding and infrastructure company Kado Money has partnered with Stellar and also expanded its support for USDC. Going forward, Stellar wallets would provide Kado Money users with comprehensive global ramp services spanning over 160 countries.

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