Wal-Mart Takes the Fight to MoneyGram and Western Union

By Alison Southwick and Matt Koppenheffer – Apr 17, 2014 at 5:32PM

NYSE: WMT

Walmart

Market Cap

$477B

Today's Change

(-0.65%) -$0.39

Current Price

$59.26

Price as of April 18, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

Wal-Mart takes a big step onto MoneyGram's and Western Union's turf.

Shares of MoneyGram (MGI) and Western Union (WU 1.02%) fell today, after Wal-Mart (WMT -0.65%) announced that it would be getting into the business of money transfers, and significantly undercutting the competition on price. For comparison, Wal-Mart will charge $9.50 for a $900 transfer, while the competitors charge nearly eight times that amount, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In this segment from Thursday's Where the Money Is, host Alison Southwick and Motley Fool analyst Matt Koppenheffer take a look at the money transfer business, and just how big of a blow to the competition this move by Wal-Mart really is.

Alison Southwick has no position in any stocks mentioned. Matt Koppenheffer owns shares of Wal-Mart Stores. The Motley Fool recommends Western Union. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.