Due to regulatory requirements and consumer demand in Germany and France, MoneyGram opened company stores in both countries. Since going public two and a half years ago, MoneyGram has made great strides by pouring energy and resources into several critically important areas for business. The Global Funds Transfer segment is the primary segment of MoneyGram, providing money transfer and bill payment services to consumers, who are often unbanked or underbanked. In March 2012, the company MoneyGram merged with the network of U.S. payment centers ZipZap.