❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

How Western Union and MoneyGram dominate remittances

Stan Alcorn May 7, 2015
HTML EMBED:
COPY

How Western Union and MoneyGram dominate remittances

Stan Alcorn May 7, 2015
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Western Union was thinking of acquiring MoneyGram. Western Union officially denied the story after the stock prices of both companies shot through the roof.

The two companies are the biggest players in the $500 billion dollar remittance industry, according to JMP Securities analyst David Scharf. 

“That combined footprint of 850,000 agents is considerably larger than the top 10 or 20 fast food chains and other brands like Starbucks combined,” Scharf says.

But JP Morgan analyst Tien-Tsin Huang says they have had to lower fees because of competition from new services, banks and new entrants such as Wal-Mart.

Click on the multimedia player above to hear more. 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.