MoneyGram, the money transfer company known for peer-to-peer payments, is launching an on- and off-ramp service for digital wallets.
This will make it easy for digital wallet customers to move between fiat to cryptocurrency to fiat again, without needing a bank account or credit card, the company said in a press release.
The company is working in partnership with Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit that develops the Stellar blockchain.
The service is initially being rolled out in a few select markets including Canada, Kenya, the Philippines and the US, at any MoneyGram location in these countries. The company said it was focusing on these markets because they are “remittance markets,” or places where there are a high volume of cross-border transactions.
The company said that global cash-out functionality is expected to be available by the end of June 2022.
The partnership will also focus on changing-up the settlement process, which will work using Circle’s USDC stablecoin.
“Today, almost 2 billion people rely on cash for their livelihood, with no options to access the digital economy. At the same time, a persistent pain point for crypto-native users is off-ramping cryptocurrency quickly and reliably,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, in a statement. “The groundbreaking nature of this service is how it solves problems for a range of users with varying needs around the world.”
More wallets will be added to the service soon, but for now, users of Stellar-connected digital wallets Vibrat and Lobstr can access the service.