MoneyGram puts a stablecoin card in Colombian wallets — and it is careful not to call it a debit card

MoneyGram, the 86-year-old money-transfer company, has launched what it describes as its first stablecoin-backed Visa card, starting in Colombia. The card lets eligible customers hold a U.S. dollar-denominated balance, spend it anywhere Visa is accepted, and move funds to pick up local currency at MoneyGram's physical locations. The company announced it on Thursday, according to both The Block and CoinDesk, which reported the launch this week.

The product runs on a stack of crypto infrastructure: it was built with Rain, a firm that helps companies issue stablecoin-linked card programs; it uses wallet technology from Crossmint; and it settles on the Stellar network. At launch the balance is denominated in Circle's USDC. MoneyGram told both outlets it plans to add support for MGUSD — its own dollar-pegged stablecoin, unveiled in June — "in the near future."

How it works

For now the MoneyGram Card exists only as a digital card inside the MoneyGram app. Customers sign up in the app, manage their balance, and add the card to a mobile wallet for online and tap-to-pay purchases, the company said. They can also send money to themselves and collect it as local cash at a MoneyGram agent — the bridge between digital dollars and physical currency that the company is positioning as its edge. MoneyGram says it serves more than 60 million active customers across over 200 countries and territories, with nearly 500,000 retail locations.

To get the card, a customer must be in an "active market" and clear MoneyGram's know-your-customer checks. Colombia is the only active market so far. MoneyGram told The Block it plans to expand "initially across Latin America" but declined to name specific countries; it told CoinDesk it would move into other markets "over the coming months." A physical card is slated for late 2026, which would add ATM cash withdrawals and in-person use where digital cards aren't widely accepted.

One detail MoneyGram was explicit about: this is not a debit card. Asked why, a spokesperson told The Block, "The card is stablecoin-backed and is not a traditional bank account or fiat-currency balance." That distinction matters, and it is addressed in the read below.

The launch continues a stablecoin push that dates to 2021, when MoneyGram partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation to convert cash to USDC and back through its network. In June 2026 it went further and launched MGUSD, its own dollar-backed token. Per CoinDesk, MGUSD runs on Stellar and is issued by Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm owned by Stripe; MoneyGram is also listed as a partner in Open USD, a Stripe-led stablecoin initiative that shares revenue with a consortium of backers.

Key facts

• What: MoneyGram Card — a stablecoin-backed Visa card, digital-only at launch (The Block, CoinDesk).
• Where: Colombia first; planned expansion across Latin America / "other markets" (The Block; CoinDesk).
• Asset: USDC at launch, MGUSD "in the near future"; USDC is Circle's token (both outlets).
• Infrastructure: Built with Rain, using Crossmint wallets on the Stellar network (both).
• Physical card: Planned for late 2026, adding ATM withdrawals (both).
• Reach claimed: 60M+ active customers, 200+ countries, ~500,000 retail locations (MoneyGram, via both).
• Prior product: MoneyGram Account — a fiat Visa debit card issued by Pathward — was discontinued in December 2025 (MoneyGram, via The Block).
• Market context (differing metrics): stablecoin supply "nearly $300 billion" and Visa's dashboard showing adjusted volume "in the trillions" over 12 months (The Block); card spending volume "surpassed $1.1 billion in August," per PaymentScan (CoinDesk).

The real-world read

This is a swap, not just an expansion. MoneyGram already had a card: MoneyGram Account, a fiat-based product with Visa debit cards issued by Pathward. It was discontinued in December 2025, the company told The Block, and MoneyGram says it offers no other cards today. So the "first stablecoin-backed card" framing, while accurate, sits on top of a quiet retirement of the conventional bank-issued debit card it replaced. The new product trades a regulated bank-account rail for a stablecoin balance.

"Not a debit card" is the whole point — and the consumer-protection catch. MoneyGram is careful to say the balance is "not a traditional bank account or fiat-currency balance." That is honest, and it is also the part worth underlining: a USDC balance is not a bank deposit and carries no deposit insurance. It depends on the issuer's reserves and peg holding. MoneyGram's own CEO, Anthony Soohoo, has said "blockchain works best when customers don't know it's there" — a design philosophy that cuts both ways, since a customer who doesn't know it's there may not know their "dollars" aren't insured ones.

Watch the migration to MGUSD. The card launches on Circle's USDC but is explicitly meant to move to MoneyGram's own MGUSD. That is not a neutral technical detail. MGUSD is issued via Stripe's Bridge, and MoneyGram is a revenue-sharing partner in the Stripe-led Open USD consortium. Stablecoin issuers typically earn yield on the reserves backing the token; steering customer balances into a proprietary token that MoneyGram and its partners profit from is a business decision dressed as a feature. Soohoo's line — "we're giving customers more freedom and control to manage their money" — is marketing from an interested party, and the "freedom" flows toward MoneyGram's own token.

Colombia is a deliberate choice. MoneyGram won't name its next markets, but starting in a Latin American remittance corridor with demand for dollar exposure targets exactly the users most drawn to a stable-dollar balance — and least likely to have easy access to U.S. bank dollars.

Mind the market-size numbers. The two outlets cite different things. The Block's "nearly $300 billion" is total stablecoin supply, and Visa's "trillions" is total adjusted on-chain volume — both from a dashboard Visa publishes. CoinDesk's "$1.1 billion in August" is stablecoin card spending, attributed to PaymentScan. These aren't contradictory, but they aren't comparable either; a reader shouldn't come away thinking one number caps or corroborates another.

Left unsaid. Neither report discloses the card's fees, the FX spread on local-currency cash pickup, whether balances earn any yield for the customer (they typically don't), the specific reserve composition behind MGUSD, or which Latin American countries come next. Those are the terms that determine whether this is cheaper than MoneyGram's traditional remittance product or simply a new wrapper on it.

Opinion, and whose

• MoneyGram (CEO Anthony Soohoo): the card gives customers "more freedom and control to manage their money, all in one place," and blockchain "works best when customers don't know it's there." Company framing, promotional.
• The Block and CoinDesk (analysis): both frame the launch as part of a broader move of stablecoins "beyond crypto trading and cross-border transfers into everyday payments." That is a characterization of a trend, not a settled fact, and neither outlet forecasts adoption numbers.
• No third-party analysts, competitors, or independent data on MoneyGram's specific uptake were cited in either report; there is no basis yet to say how many customers will use it.

Sources

• The Block (reputable secondary), "MoneyGram launches first stablecoin-backed Visa card in Colombia," Sept 10, 2026 — launch details, spokesperson statements on the "not a debit card" framing, KYC/active-market eligibility, the discontinued Pathward card (Dec 2025), Rain/Crossmint/Stellar stack, expansion "across Latin America," physical card timing, and the stablecoin-supply / Visa-dashboard figures.
• CoinDesk (reputable secondary), "MoneyGram unveils stablecoin-backed card as digital dollars move into everyday spending," carrying a Sept 8, 2026 URL — corroborating launch details, confirmation that USDC is Circle's and MGUSD follows, CEO Anthony Soohoo quote, the MGUSD/Bridge/Stripe and Open USD relationships, and the PaymentScan card-spending figure.
• Both pieces rely substantially on MoneyGram's own announcement and spokesperson/CEO statements; those company claims are from an interested party and are labeled as such above. Neither article was marked sponsored, though both sites carry unrelated sponsored and promotional content around the reporting.

This is news, not financial advice; it isn't a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset or to use any product.