Money Systems International has been operating in several US cities for more than four years. The company is the latest entrant into the competitive money transfer landscape in the U.S. although it is not so new elsewhere in Africa and Europe. Their U.S. representative, Mr. S.K. McCarthy, based in New Jersey, says the company, being African-owned is better placed to serve the African market because “we know Africa and we served Africa better."
The Ghanaian-owned company was founded in 2003 with the main objective of operating an open remittance management system to facilitate international regional & domestic money transfers to and within Africa, according to company documents.
The Money Systems Group launched the M SYSTEM™ technology platform in July 2003 and commenced the processing of remittances between selected countries in Europe and Africa under the brand name Money Systems Cash Transfer.
In Europe, where the company has been operating for over six years, McCarthy is confident of the company’s position. “We have been there for over six years and if we could not be stopped there we are here to stay and grow,” he said. The company’s European presence include locations in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Holland, France, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Austria and Portugal.
The company has since 2004 expanded its coverage into eleven (11) states in the U.S.; and eleven (11) countries in Europe, twenty-four (24) countries in Francophone and Anglophone Africa--Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, The Gambia, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Mali, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Congo Brazzaville, Guinea Conakry, Niger and Togo, Uganda and Tanzania.
He says the company is more competitive in terms of rates and charges to the African countries it serves. “The company has much cheaper rates and superior services for its customers,” he added.
He lauded the company’s High-tech office/call center in Ghana. “If you call MoneyGram or Western Union, you would have to go through an automated system. However, if you call Money System’s toll-free number you will talk to a live person, whether in Africa or in the U.S.,” he charged.
“All cash transfers are available instantly at our collection locations and customers don't have to wait 24 hours or 10 minutes to collect their cash.”
The company made its maiden debut in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2007, sponsoring this year’s Odwira Festival, the annual Okuapemman Odwira/Ohum Festival, which is hosted by the Okuapemman Association of USA & Canada. The annual event celebrates the rich Okuapen culture as well as to raise funds for various causes in the Akuapen sub-region. The organization’s goal this year was “to build an elementary school in Anum/Boso and to support the ongoing cafeteria project at the Presbyterian University at Akropong, Ghana, according to organizers, according to a press release from the organization.
A day after the celebrations, the Money Systems group organized a ‘Family Gathering’ for all agents and customers in the area to a dinner. The company’s Customer Relations Manager for Georgia, Emmanuel Gyapong urged the mostly Ghanaian crowd to patronize the company’s services and support its growth. “We Ghanaians have to understand and cultivate the habit of spending with each other,” he said. “If Money Systems makes the money, it remains in Africa. If Money Systems works, it works for all of us as Africans.”
He also assured the Ghanaian community of the company’s continued support for its activities. “This company is going places and it is going to do bigger and better things for the community. We are here to grow the business together, and with that money, we are able to sponsor programs just like Western Union and MoneyGram, and others,” he said.
“We have to learn to support our own businesses. So let us push and build this company to succeed. The days of MoneyGram and Western Union are over,” he urged. “Money System is here to stay, and so far whatever we have said we will do, we do accomplish it.”
Gyapong also used the opportunity to address customer concerns arising from some technical issues that had bedeviled the young company. “For those of us who have been using the system, there had been some system problems, but those are a thing of the past,” he stated. “We have put a new system in place to solve all your problems, and this has made it simpler and easier to use the system.
In Atlanta, some of the company’s locations include the African Mini Market in Mableton; Jechri Tropical Market in Riverdale; APEX Tropical Market, and Afro Mart in College Park.
