India Post Ties-up with MoneyGram International to Offer Convenient Money Transfer Solutions

India Post, the largest distribution postal network in the world, and MoneyGram International, the fastest growing global money transfer company, joined hands yesterday in an official launch ceremony in India’s capital – New Delhi, announcing the commencement of their tie-up, graced by the presence of Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development, Communications & Information Technology, and Shri Sachin Pilot, Ministers of State for Communications & Information Technology and Ms Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary Department of Posts and Shrimati Manjula Prasher, Member (Operations & Technology) Postal Services Board.

At the ceremony held in New Delhi Thursday, Shri Kapil Sibal officially inaugurated the commencement of the long-term alliance by conducting a remittance transaction through the MoneyGram service, displaying the ease of the monetary transaction.

Starting this week, 100 important Post Offices in Delhi, Punjab and Tamil Nadu Circles began offering MoneyGram instant inward money transfer services. MoneyGram’s services will be extended to other Post Offices and Circles in the country in a phased manner. The service is expected to be available in 5,000 Post Offices in the country by 2014. India Post and MoneyGram have planned a joint marketing endeavor in a number of states.

After launching the service, Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development Communications & IT said, "according to the World Bank, remittances to developing countries are estimated to have reached $325 billion in 2010. India is the world’s largest inward remittance market. Last year, the country received $53.1 billion in remittances. These remittances provide source of livelihood for millions of poor households. International inward remittances to rural areas support financial inclusion initiatives of the Government of India. India Post, with its network of over 155,000 post offices, plays a pivotal role in achieving the objective of financial inclusion. Despite continuous diversification in addition to its core functions, the Post Office is able to retain the trust reposed by the citizens of the country. I can say with pride that this has been possible because of the honest and hardworking work force of India Post. The partnership between India Post and MoneyGram is expected to increase transactions from key remitter countries, including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia.” He wished the partnership a great success in providing prompt and efficient service to the citizens of the country.

Shri Sachin Pilot, Hon’ble Minister of State for Communications & IT, in his address said "international inward remittances are playing an increasingly large role in the economies of many countries, contributing to economic growth and to the livelihoods of less prosperous people. For some small developing countries, inward remittances are as high as a third of their GDP. For India, remittances contributed to 3.6% share of GDP in 2009. The Indian Diaspora is estimated to be over 30 million. The Government of India recognizes the importance of India Diaspora as it has brought economic, financial and global benefits to India. India is on the fast track to economic development and is estimated to be the world’s second largest economy by 2020 and already growing at 8-9% per annum. Our economy has withstood the global economic meltdown and has in fact shown tremendous growth, thanks to our strong fundamentals. This partnership with MoneyGram will provide valuable service to those customers, particularly in rural areas, who are not fully served by banks and other financial institutions. This service needs to be expanded to more number of post offices at the earliest.”

Ms. Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of said, "India Post has long been in international money transfer service through its traditional paper-based Money Order service to many countries. Post Offices are being upgraded in phases under "Project Arrow,” which aims at improving the Core Operations and Look & Feel of Post Offices across the country. Present across India and embedded in local communities, we understand our citizens and their needs. The social relevance of India Post has gained momentum in the recent past through active participation of Post Offices in disbursement of wages to the rural poor under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme throughout the country. We work tirelessly to extend access not only to mail services, but to financial services for all, and it is in this context that our association with MoneyGram, a leading global money transfer company, is significant. This tie-up will help India Post to provide valuable service to our customers in a fast, convenient and cost-effective manner.”

Shrimati Manjula Prasher, Member (Operations & Technology) Postal Services Board said "all departmental post offices numbering around 25,000, which are already computerized, are expected to be covered under Core Banking Solution (CBS) by 2012-13. Plans are afoot to provide Rural ICT to all 1.3 lakh branch post offices in the country. India Post is undertaking diversified activities by leveraging its network to augment revenues. Our Post Offices have more than 10 years’ of experience in providing instant international money transfer service. This valuable experience will be of great help to make the association with MoneyGram a successful and long-lasting one.

Speaking at the official ceremony, Harsh Lambah, MoneyGram’ Senior Regional Director for South Asia said, "MoneyGram’s teaming with India Post reaffirms the company’s commitment to serving its hundreds of thousands of customers in the world’s largest remittance receive market and the value MoneyGram brings India Post’s business and customers. Bringing India Post, one of the world’s largest postal services to our network is very exciting. We are proud to work with such a prestigious network partner and this relationship fuels our goal to help more people by providing India Post’s millions of customers with affordable, fast and reliable money transfer services.”

MoneyGram views it as beneficial to align with national postal systems, as these provide consumers with a uniquely convenient and reliable way to access affordable money transfer services. With the addition of the India Post, MoneyGram now has agreements with more than 20 global post office networks, including Canada, Jamaica, Kenya, Italy, Morocco, Moldova, Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

About MoneyGram International

MoneyGram International, a leading global money transfer company, enables consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions to meet their financial needs. MoneyGram offers money transfer services worldwide and bill payment services in the United States and Canada through a global network of more than 244,000 agent locations—including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions—in 192 countries and territories around the world. To learn more about money transfer or bill payment at an agent location or online, please visit www.MoneyGram.com or connect with us on Facebook.

About India Post

The Indian Post Office, in the present form, has completed 156 years of its existence. In fact, it will be completing 157 years by October 1^st 2011. During this long journey, it has undergone continuous transformation according to the needs of the citizens. A network of 1.55 lakh Post Offices in the country, the largest in the world, of which more than 1.39 lakh are in the rural area, is indicative of its commitment of providing basic postal facilities throughout the country at an affordable price. It also provides various financial services like small savings instruments under Post Office Savings Bank and Money Remittance, both domestic and international.