Grocery Check-Out International Money Transfer.

American Cash Exchange, Inc. announced the launch of the first point-of-sale foreign money transfer product. The Poni Card enables international remitters living in the United States to instantly transfer cash abroad. Their recipient withdraws the transfer from ATM machines in their local currency.

Initially addressing the $13.2 Billion U.S.-to-Mexico remittance business, Poni PIN Cards are being sold in neighborhood grocery stores just like phone cards. Instead of purchasing minutes, they’re buying pre-determined pesos amounts. This innovative productization of the remittance industry eliminates agent networks from the transfer process, both in the U.S. and in Mexico. Poni PIN Cards can already be purchased this month at 100 retail locations in the launch markets of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.

Poni is also the first international transfer product to offer a newspaper-published interbank exchange rate. Poni PIN Cards are sold in $1000, $2000 or $3000 pesos values (apx. $90-$280 USD). By permitting customers to purchase specific peso amounts, the company guarantees the clear and complete transfer to the intended recipient. There are no hidden or back- end fees charged. No bank account is required to transfer the funds, no statements are issued and no ID is necessary. The cards also include a free call to Mexico used to disclose the Poni PIN, a numeric string found under a scratch off. Unlike agent-based remittance services with limited hours, a Poni Cash Card and a Poni PIN are all that is needed to withdraw the funds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. By cutting out middle- man agents, Poni(R) guarantees the complete peso transfer.

In Mexico, over 150,000 Poni Cash Cards have already been freely distributed in migrant communities in seven states. Poni Cash Cards allow these migrant families access to the Mexican ATM network to withdraw their money. In fact, American Cash Exchange, Inc. is the only non-bank, non-credit card company authorizing withdrawals from over 19,000 ATMs in the Mexican ATM network.

Poni Card money senders don’t complete forms. The sender’s identity is not necessary. Instead, the recipient of the funds is required to provide their name and address in order to receive their free Poni Cash Card. Poni technology controls and monitors the flow of funds through a system of endemic heuristics developed and implemented for the purpose of addressing the USA PATRIOT Act and other money laundering issues.