MoneyGram Cites Cybersecurity Breach for Prolonged Service Outage

Money transfer giant MoneyGram is grappling with a significant outage, now blamed on a cybersecurity breach, which has left its services down for several days. The U.S.-based company, one of the largest money transfer providers globally, revealed in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) that it had “identified a cybersecurity issue” affecting its systems, which initially was thought to be a network outage.

In response to the breach, MoneyGram took immediate protective actions, including taking key systems offline, leading to an extensive disruption in service. The company stated that it is working with external cybersecurity experts and coordinating efforts with law enforcement to resolve the issue.

The outage, which began on Friday, has impacted both online and in-person transactions, leaving millions of customers around the world unable to send or receive money. Partners such as the Bank of Jamaica and the U.K.’s Post Office have also reported being unable to offer MoneyGram services due to the ongoing outage.

MoneyGram processes over $200 billion in transactions annually across 200 countries and territories, serving more than 50 million people. Acquired by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners in 2023 for $1 billion, the company’s services are relied on by millions globally for critical financial transactions.

As of now, MoneyGram has not provided details on the nature of the cybersecurity breach or confirmed whether customer data has been compromised. The company’s website, app, and customer support channels remain offline, and no timeline has been given for when services will be restored.