Ripple invests $20 million in MoneyGram to accelerate on-demand liquidity

MoneyGram, the American fintech, recently announced that Ripple has made the final $20 million investment in MoneyGram equity “pursuant to Ripple’s original $50 million equity investment commitment made earlier this year.” According to the official statement from MoneyGram,

“This funding will support MoneyGram’s operations as the company continues to increase volume and use of On-Demand Liquidity, Ripple’s product that leverages the digital asset XRP to send money globally, instantly and reliably for fractions of a penny.”

Ripple purchased the newly-issued equity from MoneyGram at $4.10 per share, which represents a significant premium to MoneyGram’s current market price. MoneyGram Chairman and CEO, Alex Holmes stated that the duo’s initial business partnership’s success was the main driver behind experimenting with Ripple’s on-demand liquidity. Holmes added,

“Partnerships with companies like Ripple support innovation and allow us to invest in creating better customer experiences. I anticipate furthering our growth into new corridors and exploring new products and services.”

It is important to note that MoneyGram recently launched on-demand liquidity for payments to the Philippines, and has previously announced to expand the services into Europe and Australia. Pointing out the growing partnership between the two firms, Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO stated,

“Digital assets and blockchain technology have the potential to make a tremendous impact on cross-border payments – MoneyGram and Ripple is an example of that.”