On the face of it, why would Ripple (a cutting-edge technology company) want to invest in MoneyGram, which is a USA-quoted international payment transfer business?Surely, Ripple has enough on its plate trying to replace the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the platform that has been used by global banks since 1973 to make international payments? Ripple’s token price increased by over 35,000% in 2017, sparking a Cryptocurrency frenzy globally.
While MoneyGram can trace its roots back to the 1940’s, it was not until 2004 that it was trading as a separate entity. Unfortunately, despite its well-known brand internationally, it has been struggling of late as it looks to repay its $902 million of debt. It was also fined $120 million in the USA for failing to stop potential fraudulent payments. In January 2018, it had a $1.2 billion bid from the Chinese company Ant, blocked on the basis that it would enable the Chinese to have too much financial information on US citizens. MoneyGram’s share price has fallen from $17.81 in April 2017, to $1.67 in December 2018, although on the announcement of the investment by Ripple it did rise by 150% to $3.64.
While Ripple claims that it can help MoneyGram improve the efficiency of payments, cutting costs and reducing the time it takes to send money globally, I suspect it is MoneyGram’s existing distribution network that appealed to Ripple…..
Will we see more new Crypto firms buying into more “old money” companies as they look to introduce their new technology into existing customer-bases?
