Ria Money Transfer is a subsidiary of
Euronet Worldwide, Inc., which specializes in
money remittances. Ria initiates transfers through a network of agents and company-owned stores located throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and online. Ria is one of the big four remittance companies.
History
The company opened its first store in 1987.
Ria has since grown to become the third largest money transfer service in the world.
In 2006, Ria was acquired by Euronet Worldwide, Inc., becoming part of its money transfer segment together with XE.
Ria began working with post offices in 2010 and on July 31, 2014, partnered with
Postbank Postbank or Post bank may refer to:
Postal savings systems
(alphabetical by country)
* Bulgarian Postbank, a Bulgarian retail bank
* Chunghwa Post, a Taiwanese postal service that provides savings account services
* Deutsche Postbank, a German ret ...
, which is owned by the Kenyan Government.
This allowed customers to send money through any of the bank's 99 branches, or receive it directly into their accounts.
In 2014, the company launched ''Walmart-2-Walmart Powered by Ria'', a
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
money transfer service within the US. The service allows customers to transfer money to and from more than 4,600 stores at competitive prices.
In 2015, Ria acquired Malaysia based money transfer provider IME.
In 2016, the company expanded its relationship with Walmart to Latin America and partnered with Walmart Chile to offer money transfer services through selected
Líder
Líder (Spanish for ''Leader'') is a Chilean hypermarket chain originally owned and operated by Distribución y Servicio (DyS) but sold to US American corporation Walmart in 2009. brand supermarkets. In 2019, Ria and Walmart partnered with Paypal’s Xoom to introduce domestic money transfer services. Xoom expanded to 60 countries in the deal with Ria.
As of 2020, Ria’s money transfer services are available at over 470,000 locations in 159 countries, online, and through their app.
Ria continues to expand into Latin America with the support of a joint venture between parent company Euronet and Spain's Prosegur Cash.
The
Central Bank of Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959.
The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are ...
listed Ria as one of their approved international money transfer operators for diaspora remittances in March 2021.
First Bank of Nigeria
First Bank of Nigeria Limited is a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company in Lagos, Nigeria. It is the premier bank in West Africa. The First Bank of Nigeria Limited operates as a parent company, with the subsidiaries 'FBN B ...
also works with Ria to bring remittances into the country.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
released a report detailing the importance of remittances to provide a critical lifeline for vulnerable populations.
Ria has international presence as a key company for sending remittances in Belarus and as one of the companies that pays the most for sending remittances from the US to Mexico.
Products and Services
Ria Money Transfer App
The Ria Money Transfer App is available in the United States, Canada, and in most countries in Europe. With over 1,000,000 downloads, the app allows customers to send money through Ria’s global network.
Mobile Money
Customers can send and receive money through Ria Money Transfer’s mobile wallet network. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest remittance costs, but it’s also the most developed when it comes to mobile wallets. In a partnership with
Gambia's mobile money platform Qmoney, Ria customers can make fund transfers to Qmoney customers using their mobile phones.
References
External links
Ria Money Transfer Official SiteThe Ria Blog
{{Online remittance
Financial services companies established in 1987
Online remittance providers
Financial services companies of the United States
Interbank networks
Foreign exchange companies