The popular global money transfer service MoneyGram International has been down for days due to a cybersecurity issue, reported the financial technology company.
Kaniva News understands that MoneyGram payment systems in Tonga are currently not working.
The Tongan diaspora widely uses the money transfer service to send remittances to the kingdom.
When MoneyGram detected the issue it immediately launched an investigation, the company said in a post on X, and proactively went offline to protect its systems. It’s working with experts and law enforcement to get back online and resume business.
“We recognize the importance and urgency of this matter to our customers and partners,” the company stated.
A spokesperson for MoneyGram did not immediately respond to questions from The Dallas Morning News about when service is expected to be restored nor how the issue was detected.
Social media users have been posting online about not being able to send or receive money due to the outage.
MoneyGram International Inc (MGI) partnered with the Bank of South Pacific to provide money transfer services in Tonga and Samoa, two island states in the Pacific, in 2015.
The World Bank estimates more than $200 million being remitted to Samoa and Tonga annually, most of which comes from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
MoneyGram specifically chose Bank of South Pacific since it is a leading financial services provider in its market.
Moreover, the purchase of Australia’s Westpac group in Samoa, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga has widened the bank business network, which will provide a ready customer base to MoneyGram.