DALLAS, Texas Dec. 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI), a leading global money transfer company announces that customers can now send money to all rupee-denominated bank accounts in India in as little as three hours, when sent during National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) network processing hours.

"Our agents around the globe can now provide this superior service offering to customers seeking a fast and efficient way to send funds directly into any Indian bank account with excellent exchange rates," says Grant Lines, MoneyGram's executive vice president, Asia Pacific, South Asia and Middle East. "With the addition of India, we now offer bank account deposits through the MoneyGram network into four of the world's largest remittance receive markets — China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. This is a significant milestone for us, and it follows closely on the heels of our launch last month of a new send-to-wallet solution into Kenya's M-Pesa ecosystem."

This service, developed in collaboration with one of India's largest banks, Axis Bank, taps into the national Indian banking payments network, the NEFT network. With a real-time connection through Axis Bank, MoneyGram provides its customers around the globe with access to the efficiency and speed of the India NEFT network to send international money transfers directly into rupee-denominated bank accounts.

Customers can send funds through MoneyGram to all major banks in India including Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, ICICI, HDFC, SBI and many more. NEFT processing hours are generally Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Indian Standard Time), and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00pm (Indian Standard Time). Individual bank branch processing hours may vary.

About MoneyGram International, Inc.

MoneyGram, a leading money transfer company, provides essential services to consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions. MoneyGram offers worldwide money transfer services in more than 200 countries and territories through a global network of 347,000 agent locations, including retailers, international post offices and banks. MoneyGram also offers bill payment services, issues money orders and processes official checks in select markets.

CONTACT: Media Contact:
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