Our History!

The history of our group starts in 1991, when our founder and CEO, Francisco Sánchez-Apellaniz, who was living in Belgium and Spain, realized that the banks were applying abusive commissions for currency exchange.  The euro still did not exist and the banks charged fees in excess of 10%.

Thus his idea of creating a transparent, low cost currency exchange service in Spain was born.

This model was successful and was extended to Belgium a few years later.

International Giros

The activities of the group slowly increased and diversified into the international giro sector in 2001.  At that time the international transfer market was dominated by the banks which charged exorbitant fees and specialized companies like Western Union and Moneygram hid their charges in exchange fees.  The result was an extremely expensive service for immigrant clients.

Francisco decided to launch the first international low cost transfer service in Europe and, that year, Moneytrans Belgium was licensed by the CBFA* (Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission).

Moneytrans reaches Africa

Between 2001 and 2005 Moneytrans obtained licences in various European countries where we opened offices: Spain, Italy, The Netherlands.

In April 2003 Moneytrans opened their first branch in Democratic Republic of the Congo.

An essential player in the transfer sector

Thanks to a wide payment network covering 110 countries and a recognised quality-price relationship, in 2010 Moneytrans was chosen as the best company for transferring money by the International Association of Money Transfers Network (IAMTN).

European payment entity

In 2011 Moneytrans was licensed as a European payment entity by the Belgian National Bank.

Much more than money transfers

With the invoice payment system EasyBill we made our clients’ lives easier.

We also developed the transfer of large amounts (clients who wish to buy a house in their country of origin, pay their children’s university studies, …).

Fighting for financial inclusion

Our concern for improving the lives of our clients’ families took us to Africa to develop the Cash2Health service; we participated in the network of doctors for our clients in order to ease medical attention for their loved ones in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi.

At the same time we developed a micro financing project in Cameroon.

Expanding and investing in legal requirements

Covering more than 120 countries, we increased our investment creating new automatic monitoring tools to meet legal requirements.  We wanted our clients to send money with no worries; we exercised due diligence with our agents and partners to dissuade third parties from using our services for illegal or criminal activities

New Moneytrans services

Since we wanted our clients to have more opportunities for staying close to their loved ones and at a fair price, we added new services to our portfolio: unbeatable national and international top-ups and our prepaid card EasyCard: without a bank account and without any activation fees.

Moneytrans steps into the digital age

We believe in a hybrid model where the client chooses the most convenient transfer channel for them, therefore we successfully launched our platform for digital transfers iMoneytrans aimed at individuals and professionals.  It was described by the “Fintech Belgium” association as a breath of fresh air,  our objective is to fight against the banks’ high commissions and in favour of the financial inclusion of our clients.

In 2016 we reinforced our I.T. department and increased our investment in leading edge technology to guarantee the safety of our agents and clients.

European leaders offering a world of possibilities

We followed the path started in 2013 towards financial inclusion: a new stage with the widening of our licence as a financial institution, thanks to which we will offer bank accounts (in IBAN format) linked to our services.

Because we believe that our migrant clients deserve to have access to a “free” bank account where they will only pay for the services which they use and at a fairer price.

Also we increased the options for receiving funds: payment to mobile telephones or “mobile wallet” thanks to agreements with recognized partners such as Transfer To or TerraPay or directly to their house with the Home Delivery in the Dominican Republic offered by BHD Leon.

A new era for Moneytrans

Moneytrans celebrates progress and unveils a new image, website and app.

Having seen the success of our platform iMoneytrans, we have been working non-stop on a project of which we are very proud: developing the best money sending App on the market.

The application, which has been developed in Spain, will be launched in Belgium, Spain and England this summer and will allow transactions to more than 140 countries to be performed in a matter of minutes with your telephone “at the most attractive exchange rates”.

In 2017 we are celebrating the continuous progress of Moneytrans and, with this new ERA, we are unveiling a new image and new website in June 2017.  An image which represents our dynamic, energetic, friendly, optimistic, contemporary, elegant personality.

Moneytrans offers a world of possibilities!!! Stay up-to-date and subscribe to our newsletter in order to learn about all the news!