Walmart Launching a Global Money Transfer Service
Walmart is launching a global money transfer service called Walmart2World in a partnership with MoneyGram International. The move expands on the retail chain's domestic money service, launched roughly four years ago to serve America's unbanked population. Walmart2Walmart, the U.S.-based platform, allows customers to transfer funds between Walmart locations domestically, sending as much as $2,500 at a time. The new Walmart2World will allow customers to relay funds to people in more than 200 countries. Walmart2World will charge an individual $4 to send up to $50, $8 to send amounts between $51 and $1,000, and $16 to send $1,001 to $2,500. Walmart's fees will remain the same regardless of where the sender and receiver are located. Walmart2World also promises delivery of funds in 10 minutes or less.
Total Retail's Take: In their ongoing battle, both Walmart and Amazon have sought to expand their businesses into new categories (e.g., Amazon into groceries, pharmacy; Walmart into health insurance with its potential acquisition of Humana). The two mega corporations are targeting financial services as growth opportunities, both with an eye on capturing more underserved customers — a demographic Walmart has traditionally been very strong in, while Amazon tries to steal some of that market share. In addition, Walmart is hopeful that more foot traffic will enter its stores to use its money transfer services, and make other incremental purchases while they're there.
