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TIO Networks expands bill-payment locations in deal with MoneyGram

MoneyGram locations are housed in Albertsons, CVS and Wal-Mart stores.

February 28, 2011

TIO Networks Corp. has significantly expanded locations where consumers can make expedited bill payments through an agreement the company announced yesterday with MoneyGram International, Inc.

The contract with Dallas-based MoneyGram adds 35,000 locations where TIO customers can pay their bills, said John Lewis, who heads business development for TIO Networks. Prior to the agreement, TIO had approximately 23,000 locations in the United States where consumers could make bill payments, Lewis said.

"This agreement extends TIO's reach and provides TIO billers with unprecedented national coverage for walk-in bill payment across the United States," said Hamed Shahbazi, chairman and CEO of TIO Networks, which has its headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Both TIO and MoneyGram share a passion to serve the customer with a high-quality expedited bill payment experience and through this alliance we are doing that via 58,000 locations."

TIO and MoneyGram recently completed IT integration in order to offer real-time or same-day payments to a number of TIO bill payment services. Two of TIO's customers include Cricket Wireless and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

Greg Waltz, MoneyGram vice president and general manager of Global Payments, said the alliance with TIO adds new marquee billers to MoneyGram's payment network.

MoneyGram locations are housed in Albertsons LLC, a Boise, Idaho, supermarket chain, CVS/pharmacy and Wal-Mart stores. Those retail chains also offer competing bill payment and money transfer services. "We convinced them that no one company has all of the billers," Lewis said.

Although most of the locations accept only cash payments, some will accept credit cards. TIO charges a service fee for expedited bill payments that are posted the same day. When a customer pays a TIO biller at a MoneyGram location, TIO's switch routes the transaction over the company's payment network.

In a related matter, TIO Networks recently announced a business relationship with Carolina West Wireless, a data- and mobile-services company based in Wilkesboro, N.C. TIO will provide Carolina West Wireless dealers with TIO Express, TIO's over-the-counter real-time bill payment service platform.