PaymentVision, MoneyGram Pair For Walk-In Bill Payments

To provide streamlined walk-in bill payment services, PaymentVision is teaming up with MoneyGram. PaymentVision provides merchant processing and offers electronic payment processing technology for a variety of verticals, the company said in an announcement.

PaymentVision Vice President of Marketing Eugene O’Rourke said the new partnership makes “it easy for consumers to reliably process cash payments in-person at thousands of walk-in bill payment centers across the nation and seamlessly post activity directly into the biller or merchant’s existing core billing and collection software.”

With the integration, PaymentVision said receivables management firms and billers have access to new payment features. For one, consumers can make in-person payments at over 30,000 retail locations in the U.S. with trained customer service personnel. At the same time, consumers can begin a payment in the company’s MobilePass app and finish it at a retail location. In addition, the company said that payments at MoneyGram retail locations “are communicated in real time.”

The news comes as MoneyGram beat expectations on the bottom line, but missed on the top in August, as new compliance standards put in place by the company proved a headwind to revenues. Yet management maintained efforts to shore up defenses against fraud as money that is moved far-flung distances – amid a more stringent regulatory environment – will bear fruit in the long run. The company’s digital initiatives are gaining ground, too, said management.

On a consolidated basis, the company posted earnings of 21 cents a share, which topped expectations by a nickel. The revenues of $374 million were $13 million below consensus. In response, and during intraday trading, investors bid the stock down 8 percent to slightly more than $6.

The company did say that digital initiatives are showing traction, as CEO Alexander Holmes noted on the post-earnings release conference call that digital-to-digital transactions and the remittance market are showing growth. In its materials, MoneyGram stated that digital MoneyGram.com grew 17 percent year on year to become 16 percent of total money transfer funds.