National Commercial Bank (NCB), the largest bank in the Middle East, is to offer MoneyGram's international money transfer service at 1400 ATM locations in Saudi Arabia.
The agreement significantly expands MoneyGram's presence in the Kingdom, which is seen as a leading global remittance destination. Home to more than 6 million expatriates, Saudi Arabia saw remittances grow to more than $17 billion in 2006, according to the World Bank.
Anthony Ryan, president and CEO of MoneyGram International, comments: "Saudi Arabia is the second largest send market in the world behind the United States, and our alliance with a premier financial institution like National Commercial Bank represents a significant opportunity for MoneyGram's expansion plans in the Middle East."
MoneyGram has been operating in Saudi Arabia since 1998 and manages its services to the region from an office in Dubai.
The company began offering ATM-based money transfer service last year from 7-eleven locations in the US and at BillBird's My Money Transfer locations in Poland.
MoneyGram transfers at NCB will be sent over NCB's Quickpay platform. Initially, only send services will be available.