Ant Financial created the world’s largest money market fund in four years by enabling mobile wallet users to move money to the fund simply within the mobile app. The program’s meteoric rise shows that consumers are willing to adopt financial services from new players and the mobile device can supercharge that consumer shift of assets if incumbents don’t react quickly enough.
China’s Ant Financial Services Group appears to have beat back a surprise challenge by Euronet Worldwide to acquire MoneyGram. After raising its offer for the money transfer giant by more than one-third, to $1.2 billion, Ant’s bid has earned the approval of MoneyGram’s board of directors. But the deal still must win regulatory and shareholder approval before Ant officially acquires MoneyGram and gains a massive foothold in the global remittance market.
Money transfer giant MoneyGram can give further consideration to Euronet’s surprise bid to acquire the company from under the nose of Ant Financial, which in January entered a definitive agreement to buy MoneyGram.
With funds flowing from some of the biggest names in payments, including PayPal and Ant Financial, March got off to a hot start for worldwide e-commerce and fintech investment. Providers around the globe have landed hefty financing rounds from some venture capital, payments and financial services heavyweights during the first half of the month.
Payments processor Euronet is dangling more money and the potential for faster, simpler regulatory approval in front of MoneyGram investors, significantly outbidding China’s Ant Financial Services Group for the No. 2 U.S.-based money transfer company.
Ant Financial Services Group, the online and mobile financial services affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has just become a competitive juggernaut in the remittance business with the acquisition of MoneyGram, the second-largest provider of money transfer services based in the U.S. The transaction of approximately $880 million for all of MoneyGram’s common and preferred shares announced Jan. 26, not only helps MoneyGram compete with Western Union, it helps the combined company compete with startups that have been trying to shake up the market for years.
