New York State is suing international money transfer company MoneyGram for multiple consumer rights violations. New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit on behalf of residents today, Thursday, April 21, 2022. MoneyGram International, Inc. and MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. allegedly violated at state consumer protection laws repeatedly.
The attorney general accuses MoneyGram of failing to deliver money to recipients in a timely manner or refund consumers when their transfers were delayed. These practices had an unfair impact on the state’s immigrant population who used the company’s services to send money back to their home countries to family members and loved ones. The lawsuit claims that MoneyGram failed to accurately communicate with New York consumers about when their money transfers would be delivered and kept them in the dark if an error occurred.
New York gubernatorial candidate, New York State Attorney General Letitia James attends a canvassing event in Brooklyn the day after her run was announced
Attorney General James said:
Our immigrant communities trusted MoneyGram to send their hard-earned money to loved ones, but MoneyGram let them down. Consumers deserve to know where their money went. Companies have an obligation to be transparent with consumers, treat them fairly, and obey the law, but MoneyGram has repeatedly failed to do so. Today, we are suing MoneyGram to correct their illegal practices and prevent them from further harming consumers. New Yorkers can be sure that my office will always protect them from unscrupulous companies.
MoneyGram has 430,000 locations in the United States and around the world. The service is frequently used by immigrants in New York State. In 2020, more than 600,000 New Yorkers sent and received money at MoneyGram locations across the state 3.8 million times.
