Dallas-based Moneygram goes offline for several days as it investigates cybersecurity issue

 

The financial technology company said Monday it’s making progress in restoring some of its financial systems.

DALLAS — Dallas-based Moneygram International is still working to restore its financial transfer system after a dayslong outage the company says was caused by a “cybersecurity issue.”

Moneygram said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that it launched an investigation after the issue was detected and proactively took some systems offline. Moneygram said it’s working with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to get back online and resume normal operations.

“Moneygram recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting certain of our systems,” the company said Monday. “Upon detection, we immediately launched an investigation and took proactive steps to address it, including proactively taking systems offline which impacted network connectivity…we recognize the importance and urgency of this matter to our customers and partners. We are working diligently to bring our systems back online and resume normal business operations.”

It’s unclear when service will be restored or how the issue was detected, but Moneygram said in a Tuesday update that they’re “making progress in successfully restoring some of our key transactional systems.”

“Once all systems are fully operational, transactions that are currently pending will be made available to customers,” Moneygram said. “We apologize for any inconvenience and will continue to share relevant updates as available.”

Moneygram is widely used by immigrants to send money to their home countries and pay bills. Mexico is the second-highest receiver of remittances in the world, second only to India, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Remittances from the U.S. to Mexico reached a record $55.9 billion in 2022, according to the bank, and the average monthly remittance to Mexico was $390 in 2022.

A survey published by Moneygram earlier this year found about half of those who sent money abroad did so to help cover food expenses, and nearly 40% did so for emergency expenses.

Moneygram serves more than 50 million people in more than 200 countries and territories each year, and processes more than $200 billion each year, according to the company.