BENTONVILLE, Ark.—Walmart is expanding Walmart2World — the cross-border transfer service it launched last year with MoneyGram — by enabling consumers to choose to use legacy remittance firm Ria as well as MoneyGram, the company stated.
The service lets consumers send funds via the Walmart.com app, and its 4,700 U.S. stores, and adding Ria should enable it to offer more payout methods and locations as well as more competitive foreign exchange rates. Walmart has a preexisting relationship with Ria, as the two have collaborated on Walmart2Walmart, its domestic money transfer service that launched five years ago, Business Insider said.
Both Walmart2World and Walmart2Walmart appear to have driven significant usage: Walmart estimates that consumers using either service have saved $1 billion in total costs, based on pricing differences, since Walmart2Walmart debuted in 2014, Business Insider said.
Fintech Acelerator
“For Walmart, this furthers its efforts to blend retail and financial services in a way that could benefit its overall performance. The firm recently announced that it's establishing a fintech accelerator in collaboration with long-time partner Green Dot that will target the intersection of retail shopping and consumer financial services, and the expansion of Walmart2World could also help it find ways to capitalize on that overlap,” Business Insider said.
The service can bring consumers to its stores and digital channels, which can give Walmart more opportunities to make sales. Additionally, because Walmart is making Walmart2World a marketplace — possibly in an effort to make its exchange rates lower due to competition — it matches Walmart's low-price value, creating a more cohesive set of retail and financial offerings, Business Insider said.