“We invest heavily in infrastructure to stay ahead of cybercrime”, MoneyGram VP

Grant Lines, MoneyGram’s executive vice president for Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Russia was part of a delegation of MoneyGram International‘s top executives that was in Nigeria recently to continue aggressive growth of the multinational organization in Nigeria and within the African region. In a discussion with BusinessDay after the signing of a partnership agreement between MoneyGram and GTBank, Grant said MoneyGram is striving to bring Nigerians closer across the world. He also spoke on a number of issues about remittances and tackling cyber crime. Excerpts

Why have you chosen this period to visit Nigeria?

We have always seen an opportunity for greater service in Nigeria. The MoneyGram brand has continued to improve the lives of customers with an impressive network that includes 14 agent bank partners operating through over 4,000 locations across Nigeria. We also operate in over 200 countries and over 330,000 locations around the world. The African market is very important and within the African market Nigeria is the largest. We have an office here for many years and I travel 60 to 70 percent of my time to ensure the business is doing very well and I am convinced that the business is doing well here and we have great team and partners. This visit is to meet with our partners and consumers in order to achieve greater synergy.

MoneyGram has operated in Nigeria for about 20 years, how you would describe the business so far?

The business is very good and we have excellent network. We have 4,000 good locations and bank partners. The market is growing with many Diaspora Nigerians that send money in to the country and we are investing for a long period of time. We have the right partners and right network that provide convenience to people that want to send money back home to their family and loved ones. We know the Money Transfer market is a competitive industry in Nigeria and all the major money transfer agents operate in this country and so if you don’t have the right partners, competitive pricing and good service record, you won’t be successful. Our business in the last twenty years has recognized and operated around those basic issues.

What is your view on the present forex policy that demands that remittances be channelled officially and the recipients paid in local currency?

Ultimately, it is a macro-economic issue for the country. The economy globally is competitive. So, it is understandable that Nigeria too would want to be competitive.

Are you saying that the forex policy has affected remittances through official channel?

We are certainly growing and the market is competitive and irrespective of markets and currencies, people are still sending money home to support families.

How would you compare remittances within Africa and out of Africa?

There are about 50 percent of migration of Africans within Africa and so we are still seeing strong demand and strong volume intra and certainly into Africa as well. The market generally is very strong and at the global level, it is about a $6billion industry. Though there are challenges of oil prices and currencies and the likes but people who live in their home countries still seek better opportunities and education.

How would you assess your cash-to-account product which you introduced recently?

Firstly, remittances from abroad globally are seeing disruptions from trends, ideas, online platforms and cash to accounts. For instance in markets like India where government is pushing for financial inclusion and trying to increase the rate of bank accounts and bank penetration, we see the cash to accounts being a complementary service to enable people to account for cash and in many markets this creates speedy transactions. Some people who work abroad send money to their accounts and this guarantees savings for them back home. When you send fund, it could be received through physical or any form of digital or any other service platform, like ATM, mobile phone. Ultimately, MoneyGram has different platforms to enable people collect in cash or enable people to send to account through cash to account. So, it is about providing wider choices and convenience for our customers.

When there is remittance on cash to account, does the receiver pick the dollar or is the transfer converted at official or parallel rate?

The receiver will pick up the money in Naira at competitive rate. MoneyGram and the formal industry players play a very important part in financial inclusion and support government and the Central Bank to maintain the security and the transparency of money coming in to the country.

What is outstanding about the agreement with GTBank?

It is about increasing the MoneyGram reach in Nigeria through partnership with one of the biggest financial services providers in Nigeria.  Today, we have emerged as the fastest growing money transfer organisation in the world and certainly the Nigerian growth is vital. We now have almost all the biggest Nigerian banks as our partners and this is good news for our customers worldwide.

GTBank has also emerged as our first cash to account partner here in Nigeria which means any Nigerian that has a bank account in Nigeria can send funds from different markets around the world and GTBank acts as a gateway to enable the transaction to flow through the banking system to hit the account home irrespective of the bank the customer banks with in Nigeria.

But you have signed similar agreements with other banks in the past?

We have cash to cash agreements with the other banks and we don’t have cash to accounts directly with them as at now. Very soon, our other partners too will sign onto the cash to account platform

Cyber crime is getting sophisticated, what challenge does MoneyGram face and how do you tackle it?

Generally, the global financial services industry is working hard to have world class system and also have dialogue with regulators. Ultimately we work with regulators in different markets; we have our systems and internal watch list and we also have other global strategies. All these have earned us a measure of success in tackling financial crime. We operate in a very sophisticated system and highly regulated industry. As cyber crime is increasing, MoneyGram will continue to build and invest in infrastructure and systems to deny people the ability to try to penetrate our systems or agent systems.  It is a huge challenge for all industries these days. Security investing and working with regulators and educating agents and continuing to stay ahead of fraudsters and cyber criminals is very important.

 What stands MoneyGram apart from competition in Nigeria and globally?

Nigeria is a very large market and about two thirds of in-bound remittances in to Sub Saharan Africa in 2015 came into Nigeria. It is also a very competitive market. At the global level, MoneyGram will continue to grow and also in Africa and Nigeria too. Ultimately, it is about convenience, pricing and having the right banking partners here in Nigeria that provide fast and convenient service to consumers that shape our business focus. MoneyGram is a global provider of innovative money transfer services and payment services. It is recognized worldwide as a financial connection to friends and family. Whether online, or through a mobile device, at a kiosk in a local store, we connect consumers any way that is convenient for them. We also provide bill payment services, issue money order and process official checks in select markets. MoneyGram is an innovative leader in the market, embracing new technologies and leveraging our global network to serve our customers. MoneyGram has a globally-recognised brand and worldwide network and we have a fast growing multi-million dollar self service business. This means we are more accessible for more consumers in more places. Our services are trusted by tens of millions of customers around the world. MoneyGram’s platform enables money transfers to cross physical boundaries like country borders or cross boundaries like mobile wallets.

What other partnerships will your customers expect in future?

Having operated in Nigeria for 20 years with banking partners, we have strong network. The market here is non-exclusive. It is more of financial services. The trends show that financial services continue to change and technology continues to change and consumers become more educated, with regard to different channels of online platform. Also mobile platform is becoming more popular in this market. We have mobile partners globally in different markets but in some markets they are relatively mature. At MoneyGram, we will certainly tap into our vast experience to ensure that a lot of innovation is brought into the Nigerian market for the good of our customers

Are you meeting your targets in Africa and Nigeria?

At global level, we continue to grow. The industry is growing at single digit and we are growing at high single digit. Our African business is equally well established. It is growing for MoneyGram and for our agent partners. In 2016, we will make sure our agent partners and consumers are happy by researching more into how to offer more innovative services with speed, efficiency and flexibility and convenience. With good service, people come back and with bad service, people won’t come back. So, for us, our reputation is very important.