Dallas-headquartered global money transfer service, MoneyGram is eyeing millions of South Asian migrant workers worldwide to expand its business with more remittances into bank accounts, low service fees and round the clock 24-hour facilities.
The company plans to tap the huge potential of cross-region remittance from South East Asia and Middle East to South Asia and will particularly increase its services in India.
“We are broadening our service level,” MoneyGram’s Senior Regional Director for Asia, Yogesh Sangle said. MoneyGram remits money on a cash-to-cash basis in 10 minutes. As more and more Indians open bank accounts, it is now focusing on increasing the remittance service on cash-to-bank account basis, Sangle said. At present, MoneyGram has 53,388 agent located in the country. As the availability of electronics services increases, its systems are in place to remit money through automated teller machines, internet or online banking and phone banking.
There are no hidden charges and MoneyGram’s fee is merely half of the average 8.5% that remittance services currently cost across agencies, banks and financial institutions worldwide, Sangle said. At the end of last year, MoneyGram had more than 345,000 agents in more than 200 countries.
As the wave of globalization results in millions of people moving from one region or country to another in search of better education and jobs, the need for remittances has increased like never before.
The South Asian diaspora worldwide is now 50 million strong including 31 million Indians.
India tops the list of Asian countries receiving remittances with $70 billion of inflows in 2013. Last year, remittances from Singapore to India totaled $845 million. According to Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, at an estimated 700,000, Singapore has the largest numbers of Indians in Asia.
MoneyGram’s advantage lies in the quality of service that it provides through 24/7 consumer centres so that receivers and senders can claim and send their remittances any day, anytime, Sangle said. The company works with and through trustworthy organizations that helps it deliver excellent customer service, he said.
MoneyGram’s executive leadership is committed to strongly focus on creating long-term shareholder value and growth. Sangle said his plans include enhancing the company’s core product of money transfers and pushing for growth with a highly motivated team driven for giving high performance across the region. There is significant potential for growth and the company wants to be the preferred global network for consumers to send and receive funds, he reiterated.
REMITTANCE MESSAGE THROUGH CRICKET
With an innovative cricket tournament MoneyGram has also announced its deep social commitment towards the hard-working migrant community whose life in imbued with a tremendous spirit of sacrifice for the sake of their families.
MoneyGram backs its remittance business in Asia with a strategically worked out CSR or corporate social responsibility plan, Sangle said. This CSR plan is specially designed keeping in mind the South Asian migrant workers in Singapore and the Middle East, he said. The plan includes a tournament in Singapore called Cricket Ke Badshah [Emperors of Cricket], which follows the huge success of a tournament of the same name in Saudi Arabia. MoneyGram outlines the need to play cricket while working in a foreign land and has been sponsoring such tournaments for more than three years now. The company was also one of the sponsors of the ICC cricket world cup.
“We understand the importance money transfers play in the financial lives of the South Asian families, and their need to make sure that money sent is received quickly and securely,” Sangle said.
At the same time, South Asians are extremely passionate about cricket. Taking note of this fact, MoneyGram has been organizing promotional activities and events at the ground level in order to “build around and disseminate the company’s core brand message of certainty, security and convenience,” Sangle points out and stresses on the urgent need of a healthy life-style among South Asians working in foreign countries.
“For MoneyGram, world cup was an opportunity to conduct consumer promotions across the key remittance regions such as the Middle East”. The idea is to ensure that the company is effectively delivering the message that customers must get their funds where they want, when they need it, quickly and safely, he said.
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