PayPal Bypasses Banks With MoneyGram Announcement

By Pete Rizzo, Editor (@pete_rizzo_) 

A new service from MoneyGram and PayPal will soon give underbanked consumers across the United States the ability to shop online, send gifts and receive physical cash without a bank account.

MoneyGram, a Dallas-based global payment services company announced yesterday that PayPal customers can now withdraw money from their PayPal accounts online and pick-up the funds at physical MoneyGram locations. 

MoneyGram called the new service “the first phase” of a larger rollout in its August 6 press release. By the end of 2013, PayPal customers will also be able to load funds into their PayPal accounts at U.S. MoneyGram locations.

Under the agreement, consumers without bank accounts or credit cards will be able to create and maintain PayPal accounts. The two companies launched a new website, www.paypal.moneygram.com, that gives detailed steps on how users can send gifts, withdraw cash and add cash with the service.

Pamela Patsley, MoneyGram’s chairman and CEO, called the partnership an example of how the company is giving customers new ways to send and receive funds.

“Innovation is at the core of MoneyGram’s business today, and we’re delighted to work with one of the world’s leading e-commerce companies to deliver this valuable new service,” Patsley said.

Mark Lavelle, PayPal’s senior vice president of strategy and business development, noted similar benefits in his statement on the partnership.

“This new service will provide an even greater level of flexibility, convenience and value to existing PayPal users,” Lavelle said in an August 6 press release.

PayPal users in Dallas, New York and San Francisco will get a sneak preview of the service soon. MoneyGram said testing would begin in these markets before the end of the month.

For more information on the partnership, read the full press release here.