Item 1. BUSINESS

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Overview

MoneyGram International, Inc. (together with our subsidiaries, “MoneyGram,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) is a global provider of innovative money transfer services and is recognized worldwide as a financial connection to friends and family. Whether online, through a mobile device, at a kiosk or in a local store, we connect consumers in any way that is convenient for them. We also provide bill payment services, issue money orders and process official checks in select markets. Our primary customers are persons who may not be fully served by other financial institutions, which we refer to as unbanked or underbanked consumers. Unbanked consumers do not have a relationship with a traditional financial institution. Underbanked consumers are not fully served by traditional financial institutions. The World Bank, a key source of industry analysis for cross-border remittance data, estimates that 2 billion adults are unbanked, based on 2017 global data. As an alternative financial services provider, we provide these consumers with essential services to help them meet the financial demands of their daily lives. Many of our customers utilize traditional banking services but prefer to use our services based on convenience, quality of our service, trust of our brand, cost or to make urgent payments or transfers.

Our offerings include money transfers, bill payment services, money order services and official check processing. Our money transfer services are our primary revenue driver. Our services are offered in approximately 350,000 locations in more than 200 countries and territories and are primarily operated by third-party businesses ("agents"), but also include Company-operated retail locations. We also offer Digital solutions such as moneygram.com, mobile solutions, account deposit and kiosk-based services. We have one primary customer care center in Warsaw, Poland, with regional support centers providing ancillary services and additional call center services in various countries. We provide call center services 24 hours per day, 365 days per year and provide customer service in dozens  of languages.

The MoneyGram ^® brand is recognized throughout the world. We use various trademarks and service marks in our business, including, but not limited, to MoneyGram, the Globe design logo, MoneyGram Bringing You Closer, MoneyGram MyWay, MoneyGram MobilePass, MoneyGram Kameleon, ExpressPayment, Send It. Pay It. Load It., Moneygrado, FormFree, AgentWorks, Agent-Connect, Delta, DeltaWorks, PowerTransact and PrimeLink, some of which are registered in the United States and other countries. This document also contains trademarks and service marks of other businesses that are the property of their respective holders and are used herein solely for identification purposes. We have omitted the ^® and ^TM designations, as applicable, for the trademarks we reference.

We conduct our business primarily through our wholly-owned subsidiary, MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. ("MPSI"), under the MoneyGram brand. The Company was incorporated in Delaware on December 18, 2003 in connection with the June 30, 2004 spin-off from our former parent company, Viad Corporation. Through the Company's predecessors, we have been in operation for over 70 years.

The Company utilizes specific terms related to our business throughout this document, including the following:

Corridor — With regard to a money transfer transaction, the originating "send" location and the designated "receive" location are referred to as a corridor.

Corridor mix — The relative impact of increases or decreases in money transfer transaction volume in each corridor versus the comparative prior period.

Face value — The principal amount of each completed transaction, excluding any fees related to the transaction.

Foreign currency — The impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on our financial results is typically calculated as the difference between current period activity translated using the current period’s currency exchange rates and the comparable prior-year period’s currency exchange rates. We use this method to calculate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on revenues, commissions and other operating expenses for all countries where the functional currency is not the U.S. dollar.

Termination of Merger Agreement

As previously disclosed, on January 26, 2017, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended by the First Amendment to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated April 15, 2017, the “Merger Agreement”) with Alipay (UK) Limited, a United Kingdom limited company (“Alipay”), Matrix Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Alipay (“Merger Sub”), and, solely for purposes of certain specified provisions of the Merger Agreement, Alipay (Hong Kong) Holding Limited, a Hong Kong limited company, providing for the merger of Merger Sub with and into the Company, with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alipay (the “Merger”).

The closing of the Merger was subject to certain conditions, including clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended. The parties to the Merger Agreement were advised that CFIUS clearance of the Merger would not be forthcoming. After further discussion between the parties, they determined to cease efforts to seek CFIUS approval and entered into a Termination Agreement, dated January 2, 2018 (the “Termination Agreement”), pursuant to which they mutually terminated the Merger Agreement, with Alipay paying the Company a termination fee of $30.0 million. The parties also agreed to release each other from certain claims and liabilities arising out of or relating to the Merger Agreement or the transactions contemplated thereby.

In addition, pursuant to the Termination Agreement, the Company and Alipay agreed to work collaboratively to explore and develop non-exclusive strategic initiatives to bring together their capabilities in the remittance and digital payments markets to provide their respective customers with user-friendly, rapid-response and low-cost money transfer services into China, India, the Philippines and other markets.

Our Segments

We manage our business primarily through two reporting segments: Global Funds Transfer and Financial Paper Products. The following table presents the components of our consolidated revenue associated with our reporting segments for the years ended December 31 :

See Part II, Item 7, “ Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations " and Note 14 — Segment Information of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional financial information about our segments and geographic areas.

During 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , our 10 largest agents accounted for 34% , 36% and 37% , respectively, of total revenue and 35% , 37% and 39% , respectively, of Global Funds Transfer segment revenue. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (“Walmart”) is our only agent that accounts for more than 10% of our total revenue. In 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , Walmart accounted for 17% , 18% and 19% , respectively, of total revenue. Walmart accounted for 18% of Global Funds Transfer revenue in 2017 and 19% of Global Funds Transfer segment revenue in each of 2016 and 2015 .

Global Funds Transfer Segment

The Global Funds Transfer segment is our primary revenue driver, providing money transfer services and bill payment services primarily to unbanked and underbanked consumers. We utilize a variety of proprietary point-of-sale platforms, including AgentConnect, which is integrated into an agent’s point-of-sale system, DeltaWorks and Delta T3, which are separate software and stand-alone device platforms, and moneygram.com.

We continue to focus on the growth of our Global Funds Transfer segment outside of the U.S. During 2017 and 2016 sends originated outside of the U.S. generated 47% each year and 46% in 2015 , of our total Company revenue, and 50% , 49% and 48% for 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively, of our total Global Funds Transfer segment revenue. In 2017 , our Global Funds Transfer segment had total revenue of $1.5 billion .

Money Transfer — We earn our money transfer revenues primarily from consumer transaction fees and the management of currency exchange spreads on money transfer transactions involving different “send” and “receive” currencies. We have corridor pricing capabilities that provide us flexibility when establishing consumer fees and foreign exchange rates for our money transfer services, which allow us to remain competitive in all locations. In a cash-to-cash money transfer transaction, both the agent initiating the transaction and the receiving agent earn a commission that is generally a fixed fee or is based on a percentage of the fee charged to the consumer. When a money transfer transaction is initiated at a MoneyGram-owned store, staging kiosk or via our online platform, typically only the receiving agent earns a commission.

In certain countries, we have multi-currency technology that allows consumers to choose a currency when initiating or receiving a money transfer. The currency choice typically consists of local currency, U.S. dollars and/or euros. These capabilities allow consumers to know the amount that will be received in the selected currency.

The majority of our remittances constitute transactions in which cash is collected by one of our agents and funds are available for pick-up at another agent location. Typically, the designated recipient may receive the transferred funds within 10 minutes at any MoneyGram agent location. In select countries, the designated recipient may also receive the transferred funds via a deposit to the recipient’s bank account, mobile phone account or prepaid card. Through our online product offerings, consumers can remit funds from a bank account, credit card or debit card.

We offer a variety of services to provide the best consumer experience possible at our agent locations. We offer transaction-staging kiosks at select agent locations around the world. Our MoneyGram MobilePass product allows customers to stage a transaction on a mobile device or online and pay for the transaction at one of MoneyGram's thousands of locations across the U.S. Through our FormFree service, consumers are directed via phone to one of our customer care centers where a representative collects transaction information and enters it directly into our central data processing system.

In 2017, we offered our money transfer services on the internet via our moneygram.com service in the U.S., United Kingdom and Germany and through affiliate websites. Through moneygram.com, consumers have the ability to send money from the convenience of their home or internet-enabled mobile device to any of our agent locations worldwide or to a recipient's bank account through a debit or credit card or, in certain cases, funding with a U.S. checking account. Money transfer transactions through moneygram.com grew 24% and revenue grew 25% in 2017 over the prior year.

We also offer our money transfer services via virtual agents allowing our consumers to send international transfers conveniently from a website or their mobile phone in 27 countries. We continue to expand our money transfer services to consumers through the addition of transaction-staging kiosks, ATMs, prepaid cards and direct-to-bank account products in various markets around the world.

As of December 31, 2017 , our money transfer agent network had approximately 350,000 locations. Our agent network includes agents such as international post offices, formal and alternative financial institutions as well as large and small retailers. Additionally, we have Company-operated retail locations in the U.S. and Western Europe. Some of our agents outside the U.S. manage sub-agents. We refer to these agents as super-agents. Although these sub-agents are under contract with these super-agents, the sub-agent locations typically have access to similar technology and services as our other agent locations. Many of our agents have multiple locations, a large number of which operate in locations that are open outside of traditional banking hours, including nights and weekends. Our agents know the markets they serve and they work with our sales and marketing teams to develop business plans for their markets. This may include contributing financial resources to, or otherwise supporting, our efforts to market MoneyGram's services.

Bill Payment Services — We earn our bill payment revenues primarily from fees charged to consumers for each transaction completed. Our primary bill payment service offering is our ExpressPayment service, which we offer at substantially all of our money transfer agent and Company-operated locations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, at certain agent locations in select Caribbean and European countries and through our Digital solutions.

Through our bill payment services, consumers can complete urgent bill payments, pay routine bills, or load and reload prepaid debit cards with cash at an agent location, company-operated locations or through moneygram.com with a credit or debit card. We offer consumers same-day and two or three day payment service options; the service option is dependent upon our agreement with the biller. We offer payment options to over 13,500 billers in key industries, including the ability to allow the consumer to load or reload funds to nearly 500 prepaid debit card programs. These industries include the credit card, mortgage, auto finance, telecommunications, corrections, health care, utilities, property management, prepaid card and collections industries.

Marketing — We have global marketing and product management teams located in multiple geographical regions. We employ a strategy of developing products and marketing campaigns that are global, yet can be tailored to address our consumer base and local needs. A key component of our marketing efforts is our global branding. We use a marketing mix to support our brand, which includes traditional, digital and social media, point-of-sale materials, signage at our agent locations, targeted marketing campaigns, seasonal campaigns and sponsorships.

Sales — Our sales teams are organized by geographic area, product and delivery channel. We have dedicated teams that focus on developing our agent and biller networks to enhance the reach of our money transfer and bill payment products. Our agent requirements vary depending upon the type of outlet, location and compliance and regulatory requirements. Our sales teams and strategic partnership teams continue to improve our agent relationships and overall network strength with a goal of providing the optimal agent and consumer experience.

Competition — The market for money transfer and bill payment services continues to be very competitive and the World Bank estimates that in 2018 cross-border remittances will be over $600 billion . We generally compete for money transfer agents on the basis of value, service, quality, technical and operational differences, price, commission and marketing efforts. We compete for money transfer consumers on the basis of trust, convenience, availability of outlets, price, technology and brand recognition.

Our competitors include a small number of large money transfer and bill payment providers, financial institutions, banks and a large number of small niche money transfer service providers that serve select regions. Our largest competitor in the money transfer industry is The Western Union Company ("Western Union"), which also competes with our bill payment services and money order businesses. In 2014, Walmart launched a white label money transfer service, a program operated by a competitor of MoneyGram that allows consumers to transfer money between Walmart U.S. store locations. We will encounter increasing competition as new technologies emerge that allow consumers to send and receive money through a variety of channels, but we continue to be an innovator in the industry by diversifying our core money transfer business through new channels, such as online, mobile solutions, kiosk and other digital offerings.

Seasonality — A larger share of our annual money transfer revenues traditionally occurs in the third and fourth quarters as a result of major global holidays falling during or around this period.

Financial Paper Products Segment

Our Financial Paper Products segment provides money orders to consumers through our agents and financial institutions located throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico and provides official check outsourcing services for financial institutions across the U.S.

In 2017 , our Financial Paper Products segment generated revenues of $94.0 million from fee and other revenue and investment revenue. We earn revenue from the investment of funds underlying outstanding official checks and money orders. We refer to our cash and cash equivalents, settlement cash and cash equivalents, interest-bearing investments and available-for-sale investments collectively as our “investment portfolio.” Our investment portfolio primarily consists of low risk, highly liquid, short-term U.S. government securities and bank deposits that produce a low rate of return.

Money Orders — Consumers use our money orders to make payments in lieu of cash or personal checks. We generate revenue from money orders by charging per item and other fees, as well as from the investment of funds underlying outstanding money orders, which generally remain outstanding for approximately six days. We sell money orders under the MoneyGram brand and on a private label or co-branded basis with certain agents and financial institutions in the U.S. As of December 31, 2017 , we issued money orders through our network of over 17,500 agents and financial institution locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Official Check Outsourcing Services — Official checks are used by consumers where a payee requires a check drawn on a bank. Financial institutions also use official checks to pay their own obligations. Similar to money orders, we generate revenue from our official check outsourcing services through U.S. banks and credit unions by charging per item and other fees, as well as from the investment of funds underlying outstanding official checks, which generally remain outstanding for approximately four days. As of December 31, 2017 , we provided official check outsourcing services through approximately 800 financial institutions at approximately 5,600 branch bank locations.

Marketing — We employ a wide range of marketing methods. We use a marketing mix to support our brand, which includes traditional, digital and social media, point of sale materials, signage at our agent locations and targeted marketing campaigns. Official checks are financial institution branded, and therefore, all marketing to this segment is business to business.

Sales — Our sales teams are organized by product and delivery channel. We have dedicated teams that focus on developing our agent and financial institution networks to enhance the reach of our official check and money order products. Our agent and financial institution requirements vary depending upon the type of outlet or location, and our sales teams continue to improve and strengthen these relationships with a goal of providing the optimal consumer experience with our agents and financial institutions.

Competition — Our money order competitors include a small number of large money order providers and a large number of small regional and niche money order providers. Our largest competitors in the money order industry are Western Union and the U.S. Postal Service. We generally compete for money order agents on the basis of value, service, quality, technical and operational differences, price, commission and marketing efforts. We compete for money order consumers on the basis of trust, convenience, availability of outlets, price, technology and brand recognition.

Official check competitors include financial institution solution providers, such as core data processors, and corporate credit unions. We generally compete against a financial institution’s desire to perform these processes in-house with support from these types of organizations. We compete for official check customers on the basis of value, service, quality, technical and operational differences, price and commission.

Regulation

Compliance with laws and regulations is a highly complex and integral part of our day-to-day operations. Our operations are subject to a wide range of laws and regulations of the U.S. and other countries, including anti-money laundering laws and regulations; financial services regulations; currency control regulations; anti-bribery laws; regulations of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"); money transfer and payment instrument licensing laws; escheatment laws; privacy, data protection and information security laws; and consumer disclosure and consumer protection laws. Regulators worldwide are exercising heightened supervision of money transfer providers and requiring increased efforts to ensure compliance. Failure to comply with any applicable laws and regulations could result in restrictions on our ability to provide our products and services,

as well as the potential imposition of civil fines and possibly criminal penalties. See “ Risk Factors ” section in Item 1A for additional discussion regarding potential impacts of failure to comply. We continually monitor and enhance our global compliance programs in light of the most recent legal and regulatory changes.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement —  In November 2012, we announced that a settlement was reached with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (the "MDPA") and the U.S. Department of Justice ("U.S. DOJ") relating to the previously disclosed investigation of transactions involving certain of our U.S. and Canadian agents, as well as fraud complaint data and the consumer anti-fraud program, during the period from 2003 to early 2009. In connection with this settlement, we entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement (the "DPA") with the MDPA and U.S. DOJ dated November 8, 2012. Under the DPA, we agreed to a forfeiture of $100.0 million that is available as restitution to victims of the consumer fraud scams perpetrated through MoneyGram agents. Also under the DPA, we have agreed, among other things, to retain an independent compliance monitor for a period of five years and in the first quarter of 2013, Aaron Marcu, a litigation partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, LLP in New York and head of its global financial institutions litigation group, was selected as our independent compliance monitor. We have received five annual reports from the compliance monitor, and we continue to make investments in various areas related to our compliance systems and operations in order to comply with the requirements contained in the DPA and recommendations of the compliance monitor.

On November 1, 2017, the Company agreed to a stipulation with the MDPA and the DOJ (the “Government”) that the term of the Company’s DPA be extended for 90 days to February 6, 2018. On January 31, 2018, the Company agreed with the Government that the term of the DPA be extended for an additional 45 days to March 23, 2018. The purpose of the extension is to provide the Company and the Government additional time to discuss whether the Company is in compliance with the DPA. There can be no assurance that the Company and the Government will continue to be able to negotiate a mutually satisfactory outcome during such 45 day period (or any further short-term extension of the DPA) or that such outcome will not include a further extension of the DPA, financial penalties or additional restrictions on the Company, including a monitorship period beyond the current monitorship that ends on April 30, 2018. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that the Government will not seek any other remedy, including criminal prosecution and financial penalties, in lieu of an extension of the DPA and monitorship.

The Company has recorded an $85.0 million accrual in connection with a possible resolution of this matter, based on the facts and circumstances known at the time. However, the Company is unable to reasonably estimate the ultimate loss and no assurance can be given that future costs and payments made in connection with this matter will not exceed the amount currently recorded or that the government will not also seek to impose non-monetary remedies or penalties. See “Risk Factors — We face possible uncertainties relating to compliance with and the impact of the deferred prosecution agreement entered into with the U.S. federal government” for additional information.

Anti-Money Laundering Compliance —  Our services are subject to U.S. anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, as well as state laws and regulations and the anti-money laundering laws and regulations in many of the countries in which we operate, particularly in the European Union. Countries in which we operate may require one or more of the following:

Anti-money laundering regulations are constantly evolving and vary from country to country. We continuously monitor our compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and implement policies and procedures in light of the most current legal requirements.

We offer our money transfer services primarily through third-party agents with whom we contract and do not directly control. As a money services business, we and our agents are required to establish anti-money laundering compliance programs that include: (i) internal policies and controls; (ii) designation of a compliance officer; (iii) ongoing employee training and (iv) an independent review function. We have developed an anti-money laundering training manual available in multiple languages and a program to assist with the education of our agents on the various rules and regulations. We also offer in-person and online training as part of our agent compliance training program and engage in various agent oversight activities. We have also adopted a global compliance policy that outlines key principles of our compliance program to our agents.

In connection with regulatory requirements to assist in the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and other illegal activities and pursuant to legal obligations and authorizations, the Company makes information available to certain U.S. federal and state, as well as certain foreign, government agencies when required by law. In recent years, the Company has experienced an increase in data sharing requests by these agencies, particularly in connection with efforts to prevent money laundering or terrorist financing or reduce the risk of consumer fraud. In certain cases, the Company is also required by government agencies to deny transactions that may be related to persons suspected of money laundering, terrorist financing or other illegal activities, and as a result the Company may inadvertently deny transactions from customers who are making legal money transfers, which could lead to liability or reputational damage. Responding to these agency requests may result in increased operational costs.

Money Transfer and Payment Instrument Licensing — In most countries, either we or our agents are required to obtain licenses or to register with a government authority in order to offer money transfer services. Almost all states in the U.S., the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam require us to be licensed to conduct business within their jurisdictions. Our primary overseas operating subsidiary, MoneyGram International Ltd., is a licensed payment institution under the Payment Services Regulations adopted in the United Kingdom pursuant to the European Union Payment Services Directive ("PSD"). As a result of the United Kingdom’s planned exit from the European Union, we have obtained authorization as a payment institution from the National Bank of Belgium for the conduct of our business in the European Union following the United Kingdom’s departure. In 2016, the PSD was amended by a revised Payment Services Directive (“PSD2”), which was implemented in the national law of the member states during or prior to January 2018. Among other changes, the PSD2 has increased the supervisory powers granted to member states with respect to activities performed by us and our agents in the European Union. We are also subject to increasingly significant licensing or other regulatory requirements in various other jurisdictions. Licensing requirements may include minimum net worth, provision of surety bonds or letters of credit, compliance with operational procedures, agent oversight and the maintenance of reserves or “permissible investments” in an amount equivalent to outstanding payment obligations, as defined by our various regulators. The types of securities that are considered “permissible investments” vary across jurisdictions, but generally include cash and cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and other highly rated debt instruments. Many regulators require us to file reports on a quarterly or more frequent basis to verify our compliance with their requirements. Many regulators also subject us to periodic examinations and require us and our agents to comply with anti-money laundering and other laws and regulations.

Escheatment Regulations — Unclaimed property laws of every state in the U.S., the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands require that we track certain information on all of our payment instruments and money transfers and, if they are unclaimed at the end of an applicable statutory abandonment period, that we remit the proceeds of the unclaimed property to the appropriate jurisdiction. Statutory abandonment periods for payment instruments and money transfers range from three to seven years. Certain foreign jurisdictions also have unclaimed property laws. These laws are evolving and are frequently unclear and inconsistent among various jurisdictions, making compliance challenging. We have an ongoing program designed to comply with escheatment laws as they apply to our business.

Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Laws and Regulations — We are subject to federal, state and international laws and regulations relating to the collection, use, retention, security, transfer, storage and disposal of personally identifiable information of our consumers, agents and employees. In the U.S., we are subject to various federal privacy laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which requires that financial institutions provide consumers with privacy notices and have in place policies and procedures regarding the safeguarding of personal information. We are also subject to privacy and data breach laws of various states. Outside the U.S., we are subject to privacy laws of numerous countries and jurisdictions. In some cases, these laws are more restrictive than the U.S. laws and impose more stringent duties on companies or penalties for non-compliance. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union, effective May 2018, will impose a higher standard of personal data protection with significant penalties for non-compliance for companies operating in the European Union or doing business with European Union residents. In addition, government surveillance laws and data localization laws are evolving to address increased and changing threats and risks. All of these laws are continuing to develop and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Dodd-Frank Act — The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") was signed into law in 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act imposes additional regulatory requirements and creates additional regulatory oversight over us. The Dodd-Frank Act created a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the "CFPB") which issues and enforces consumer protection initiatives governing financial products and services, including money transfer services, in the U.S. The CFPB’s Remittance Transfer Rule became effective on October 28, 2013. Its requirements include: a disclosure requirement to provide consumers sending funds internationally from the U.S. enhanced pre-transaction written disclosures, an obligation to resolve certain errors, including errors that may be outside our control, and an obligation to cancel transactions that have not been completed at a customer's request. As a “larger participant” in the market for international money transfers, we are subject to direct examination and supervision by the CFPB. We have modified our systems and consumer disclosures in light of the requirements of the Remittance Transfer Rule. In addition, under the Dodd-Frank Act, it is unlawful for any provider of consumer financial products or services to engage in unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices. The CFPB has substantial rule making and enforcement authority to prevent unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices in connection with any transaction with a consumer for a financial product or service.

Foreign Exchange Regulation — Our money transfer services are subject to foreign currency exchange statutes of the U.S., as well as similar state laws and the laws of certain other countries in which we operate. Certain of these statutes require registration or licensure and reporting. Others may impose currency exchange restrictions with which we must comply.

Regulation of Prepaid Cards — We sell our MoneyGram-branded prepaid card in the U.S., in addition to loading prepaid cards of other card issuers through our ExpressPayment offering. Our prepaid cards and related loading services may be subject to federal and state laws and regulations, including laws related to consumer protection, licensing, unclaimed property, anti-money laundering and the payment of wages. Certain of these federal and state statutes prohibit or limit fees and expiration dates on and/or require specific consumer disclosures related to certain categories of prepaid cards. We continually monitor our prepaid cards and related loading services in light of developments in such statutes and regulations.

Anti-Bribery Regulation — We are subject to regulations imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA") in the U.S., the U.K. Bribery Act and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions. We are subject to recordkeeping and other requirements imposed upon companies related to compliance with these laws. We maintain a compliance program designed to comply with applicable anti-bribery laws and regulations.

Clearing and Cash Management Bank Relationships

Our business involves the transfer of money on a global basis on behalf of our consumers, our agents and ourselves. We buy and sell a number of global currencies and maintain a network of settlement accounts to facilitate the funding of money transfers and foreign exchange trades to ensure that funds are received on a timely basis. Our relationships with the clearing, trading and cash management banks are critical to an efficient and reliable global funding network.

In the U.S., we have agreements with six active clearing banks that provide clearing and processing functions for official checks, money orders and other draft instruments. We employ four banks to clear our official checks and three banks to clear our retail money orders. We believe that this network of banks provides sufficient capacity to handle the current and projected volumes of items for these services.

We maintain significant relationships with major international banks which provide the capability to transfer money electronically as well as through domestic and international wire transfer networks. There are a limited number of banks that have the capabilities that are broad enough in scope to handle our volume and complexity. Consequently, we employ banks whose market is not limited to their own country or region, and have extensive systems capabilities and branch networks that can support settlement needs that are often unique to different countries around the world. In 2013 , we activated our participation in the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication ("SWIFT") network for international wire transfers, which improves access to all banks in the world while lowering the cost of these funds transfers.

Intellectual Property

The MoneyGram brand is important to our business. We have registered our MoneyGram trademark in the U.S. and in a majority of the other countries in which we do business. We maintain a portfolio of other trademarks that are material to our Company, which were previously discussed in the "Overview" section. In addition, we maintain a portfolio of MoneyGram branded and related domain names.

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark and copyright laws and trade secret protection and confidentiality or license agreements to protect our proprietary rights in products, services, expertise and information. We believe the intellectual property rights in processing equipment, computer systems, software and business processes held by us and our subsidiaries provide us with a competitive advantage. We take appropriate measures to protect our intellectual property to the extent such intellectual property can be protected.

We own various patents related to our money order and money transfer technologies which have given us competitive advantages in the marketplace. We also have patent applications pending in the U.S. that relate to our money transfer, money order and bill payment technologies and business methods. We anticipate that these applications, if granted, could give us continued competitive advantages in the marketplace.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017 , we had 1,180  full-time employees in the U.S. and 1,756  full-time employees outside of the U.S. In addition, we engage independent contractors to support various aspects of our business. None of our employees in the U.S. are represented by a labor union.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

W. Alexander Holmes , age 43, has served as Chief Executive Officer since January 2016 and Chairman of the Board since February 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Holmes served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Company since February 2014 and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2012. He joined the Company in 2009 as Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Holmes served in a variety of positions at First Data Corporation, including chief of staff to the Chief Executive Officer, Director of Investor Relations and Senior Vice President of Global Sourcing & Strategic Initiatives. From 2002 to 2003, he managed Western Union’s Benelux region from its offices in Amsterdam.

Lawrence Angelilli , age 62, has served as Chief Financial Officer, since January 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Angelilli served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer since 2014. He joined the Company in August 2011 as Senior Vice President and Treasurer. From 2009 to 2010, Mr. Angelilli served as Director of Underwriting at Hudson Advisors, a global asset management company affiliated with Lone Star Funds, a global private equity fund. From 1998 to 2009, he was Senior Vice President of Finance at Centex Corporation, a publicly traded homebuilder and mortgage originator.

Joann L. Chatfield, age 52, has served as Chief Marketing Officer since May 2017. Ms. Chatfield joined MoneyGram in May 2011 and has held various roles within the Company, including Director of Marketing, U.S. and Canada, Vice President, Global Marketing Services and Head of Marketing for North and South America. Prior to joining MoneyGram, Ms. Chatfield held various management roles at Texans Credit Union and MCI, Inc. Ms. Chatfield has over 20 years of leadership experience in marketing, brand management, product marketing as well as vendor and sponsorship management.

Kamila K. Chytil , age 38, has served as Chief Global Operations Officer since May 2016. Ms. Chytil joined the Company in May 2015 as Senior Vice President of key partnerships and payments. From 2011 to May 2015, Ms. Chytil was Senior Vice President and General Manager of retail payments at Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., a global provider of financial technology solutions, where she was responsible for e-commerce, check cashing and retail payments. From 2004 to 2011, Ms. Chytil held various other management roles at Fidelity National Information Services, overseeing analytics, risk management, and operations.

Laura Gardiner, age 50, has been Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer since February 2017. She joined the Company in April of 2012 as a Senior Director of Human Resources and from 2014 to January 2017 served as Vice President of Human Resources. From 2010 to 2012, Ms. Gardiner served as Director of Human Resources with Western Union, a global financial services company. From 2008 to 2009, Ms. Gardiner served as Vice President of Human Resources with Pronerve LLC, a neurophysiologic monitoring service company. Ms. Gardiner has over 20 years of experience in human resources and business roles in a variety of industries.

Francis Aaron Henry , age 52, has served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since August 2012 and previously served as interim General Counsel from July 2012 to August 2012. He joined the Company in January 2011 as Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, Global Regulatory and Privacy Officer. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Henry was Assistant General Counsel at Western Union and from 2004 to 2008, he was Senior Counsel at Western Union.

Grant A. Lines, age 53, has served as Chief Revenue Officer since January 2018. Prior to that, he served as Chief Revenue Officer, Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Russia and CIS from February 2015 until January 2018. Mr. Lines previously served the Company as Executive Vice President, Asia-Pacific, South Asia and Middle East from February 2014 to February 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Lines served the Company as Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific, South Asia and Middle East from February 2013 to February 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Lines served as General Manager of Black Label Solutions, a leading developer and supplier of computerized retail point of sale systems, from May 2011 to December 2012. He served as Managing Director of First Data Corporation’s ANZ business, a global payment processing company, from September 2008 to February 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Lines held various positions in the industry.

Andres Villareal , age 53, has been Chief Compliance Officer since March 2016. He joined the Company in April 2015 as Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer. From 2004 to April 2015, Mr. Villareal held various positions at Citigroup, a leading global bank, including Global Head of Compliance for Citi Commercial Bank and Chief Compliance Officer for Citi Assurance Services, a captive insurance company. Mr. Villareal has over 27 years of experience in various compliance, legal and business roles in a variety of industries, including financial services, banking and insurance.

John D. Stoneham , age 39, has been Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer since October 2015. Mr. Stoneham previously served as Vice President and Interim Controller since August 2015. From December 2012 to July 2015, Mr. Stoneham served in various accounting roles at the Company. Prior to December 2012, Mr. Stoneham was the Corporate Controller for Cinsay, Inc., a software provider. From January 2011 to December 2011, he was the SEC Reporting Manager at Archipelago Learning, a software-as-a-service provider of education products. Mr. Stoneham is a Certified Public Accountant and began his career at KPMG LLP, an accounting and financial advisory services firm.

Available Information

Our website address is corporate.moneygram.com . The information on our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make our reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, Section 16 reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5, and all amendments to those reports, available electronically free of charge in the Investor Relations section of our website ( ir.moneygram.com ) as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Any materials filed with the SEC may be read and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE., Washington DC 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room can be found by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Additionally, the SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, which may be found at www.sec.gov .

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