Settlement Assets and Payment Service Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

The Company's primary licensed entities are MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. ("MPSI"), MoneyGram International SRL and MoneyGram International Limited, which enable us to offer our money transfer service in the European Economic Area as well as around the globe. MPSI is regulated by various U.S. state agencies that generally require the Company to maintain a pool of assets with an investment rating bearing one of the three highest grades as defined by a nationally recognized rating agency ("permissible investments") in an amount equal to the payment service obligations, as defined by each state, for those regulated payment instruments, namely teller checks, agent checks, money orders and money transfers. The regulatory payment service assets measure varies by state but in all cases excludes investments rated below A-. The most restrictive states may also exclude assets held at banks that do not belong to a national insurance program, varying amounts of accounts receivable balances and/or assets held in the SPE. The regulatory payment service obligations measure varies by state but in all cases is substantially lower than the Company's payment service obligations as disclosed in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as the Company is not regulated by state agencies for payment service obligations primarily resulting from outstanding cashier's checks.

We are also subject to 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 settlement assets in an amount equivalent to outstanding payment service obligations, as defined by our various regulators.

The regulatory and contractual requirements do not require the Company to specify individual assets held to meet its payment service obligations, nor is the Company required to deposit specific assets into a trust, escrow or other special account. Rather, the Company must maintain a pool of liquid assets sufficient to comply with the requirements. No third-party places limitations, legal or otherwise, on the Company regarding the use of its individual liquid assets. The Company is able to withdraw, deposit or sell its individual liquid assets at will, with no prior notice or penalty, provided the Company maintains a total pool of liquid assets sufficient to meet the regulatory and contractual requirements. Regulatory requirements also require MPSI to maintain positive net worth, with certain states requiring that MPSI maintain positive tangible net worth. The Company was in compliance with its contractual and financial regulatory requirements as of December 31, 2020.

The following table summarizes the amount of settlement assets and payment service obligations as of December 31:


(Amounts in millions)	2020		2019
Settlement assets:
Settlement cash and cash equivalents	$	1,883.2	$	1,531.1
Receivables, net	825.0		715.5
Interest-bearing investments	991.2		985.9
Available-for-sale investments	3.5		4.5
	$	3,702.9	$	3,237.0
Payment service obligations	$	(3,702.9)	$	(3,237.0)