MoneyGram Launches API for Embedding Crypto On/Off-Ramp Functionality

MoneyGram has launched an application programming interface (API) designed to make it easy for developers to embed crypto on/off-ramp functionality.

With the new MoneyGram Ramps, wallets, exchanges and FinTech apps can enable compliant cash-to-crypto and crypto-to-cash integration through a single implementation, the company said in a Friday (May 2) press release.

“With this launch, MoneyGram is quickly becoming the connective tissue between traditional finance and the digital economy,” MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo said in the release. “We’ve taken the complexity out of integration, opening the door to seamless connection with the world’s largest cash on/off-ramp for digital wallets.”

MoneyGram Ramps enables cash deposits in more than 30 countries and cash withdrawals in more than 170 countries; eliminates the need for developers to build custom infrastructure or navigate regulations; and allows developers to complete sandbox setup in as little as five minutes, according to the release.

The solution is powered by the Stellar blockchain, Circle’s USDC stablecoin and MoneyGram’s global network, per the release. It enables users to deposit or withdraw cash at participating MoneyGram locations worldwide.

“We’re empowering the next wave of entrepreneurs to create financial tools for everyone — including the 1.4 billion adults worldwide who still rely on cash,” Chief Technology Officer Luke Tuttle said in the release.

The launch of MoneyGram Ramps follows the introduction of some other new offerings and partnerships in April.

On April 21, payment card and security solutions provider CompoSecure said it integrated its Arculus Cold Storage Wallet with MoneyGram Access, enabling users to convert physical cash to digital USDC stablecoins and withdraw cash at MoneyGram locations worldwide.

The firm also said April 17 that it partnered with Plaid to enable MoneyGram customers in the U.S. to use Plaid’s technology to help authenticate their bank accounts, allowing for faster and more secure funding for domestic and cross-border payments.

On April 2, MoneyGram implemented Mastercard Move, a portfolio of money transfer solutions, to facilitate digital money movement domestically and across borders. The company said this integration allows its customers to use any U.S.-issued Mastercard card to send funds to 38 eligible receiving markets and receive money through nearly 10 billion additional endpoints around the world.