MoneyGram hires Wells Fargo senior executive as CFO

Quick Look

• Dallas-based MoneyGram International announced in a press release on Wednesday the appointment of Marc Winniford as its new Chief Financial Officer. Winniford is a veteran finance executive at Wells Fargo, having spent 17 years at the San Francisco-based bank in various senior leadership roles. He will assume the role in February.
• Winniford has served as CFO of Wells Fargo's Corporate and Investment Banking division since 2022. He takes over the financial helm as the traditional cross-border payments company undergoes a transformation—the $1.8 billion privatization deal announced in 2022 was completed the following year, and the company is now seeking to upgrade its operations.
• "Marc's leadership will be critical in strengthening our foundation and unlocking new opportunities as we transform our finance organization into a center of operational excellence and a growth engine," MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo said in the press release.

Deep Dive

Since taking the top role at the international money transfer company last year, Soohoo has been focused on digitally transforming the sprawling business. The company experienced a significant outage in 2024 that left its operations offline for several days, as previously reported by Payments Dive, a sister publication of CFO Dive.

The appointment comes about 18 months after the company named Gary W. Ferrera as CFO in June 2024, when Ferrera succeeded the retiring Larry Angelilli. According to Ferrera's LinkedIn profile, he served as CFO for one year, until June 2025. Before joining MoneyGram, he served as CFO of automotive services company Driven Brands Holdings for about a year, as previously reported by CFO Dive.

A MoneyGram spokesperson said Ferrera retired in June to spend more time with his family. Brinda Bhattacharjee, who joined the company in February 2024 and led the treasury department, was named interim CFO in June.

"Our finance team has been led by experienced leaders with deep tenure at MoneyGram, complemented by new talent from treasury and finance," the spokesperson said in an email. The team includes Chief Accounting Officer Chris Russell, as well as new leaders from firms such as Goldman Sachs, Invesco, and Kraken.

Winniford will report directly to Soohoo, who praised the incoming finance chief for his "disciplined approach to capital management," which aligns with MoneyGram's philosophy.

During his tenure at Wells Fargo, Winniford held roles including corporate finance head (responsible for FP&A), assistant treasurer, head of corporate development, and positions in the treasury and fixed income divisions. He also has investment banking experience, having spent five years at Lazard, according to the press release.

"MoneyGram is in the midst of an ambitious and disciplined transformation. That momentum, combined with its global network and omnichannel platform—which have the potential to redefine how money moves—is what drew me here," Winniford said in the press release. "I am excited to join the team and ensure finance is a key driver in building the future of MoneyGram."

One of the changes MoneyGram is advancing is transforming the finance organization into a growth engine, the spokesperson said. For example, this month the company announced a partnership with Fireblocks to "further advance stablecoin-based settlement and multi-asset treasury operations across MoneyGram's retail and digital network, enabling faster, lower-cost payments and real-time treasury operations across the network."

The company serves more than 50 million customers annually, operates in over 200 countries and territories, and has nearly 500,000 retail locations, according to the press release.