Report said that the MoneyGram customers can buy Bitcoin in retail outlets in the United States, as crypto adoption among mainstream payment service companies continues to grow, MoneyGram set to join the list.
It has been reported that the global payment service announced a partnership with crypto exchange and Bitcoin (BTC) ATM operator Coinme Inc., to allow US customers to withdraw their cryptocurrency holdings for cash across its point-of-sale outlets in the country.
However, MoneyGram also revealed that customers will be able to buy BTC and crypto in an expansion of the existing crypto-to-cash model pioneered by the almost 20,000 cryptocurrency ATMs around the world.
Big news for MoneyGram today! The payment platform will allow customers to buy Bitcoin through its brick-and-mortar retail outlets across the US. https://t.co/VVPTXgCLVk — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 12, 2021
Alex Holmes, the CEO of MoneyGram, said:
“This innovative partnership opens our business to an entirely new customer segment as we are the first to pioneer a crypto-to-cash model by building a bridge with Coinme to connect bitcoin to local fiat currency.”
The report said that for MoneyGram, the ability to buy Bitcoin across its brick-and-mortar retail outlets might be a significant development for would-be first-time crypto users daunted by interacting with online cryptocurrency exchanges. MoneyGram’s announcement also likely offers another indication of the potential for a unified money transmission licensing regime, especially for cryptocurrencies.
In September 2020, 48 US states agreed to establish a single regulatory framework for money transmitters, a move with significant implications for 78 fintech businesses like MoneyGram, with an annual turnover above $1 trillion.
Thus, MoneyGram debuting physical Bitcoin-buying across its locations in the US is also another example of fintech and payment service firms warming up to cryptocurrencies.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Mobile World LIVE | Techwire Asia