Tesco is removing international money transfer services provided by MoneyGram from its stores, RN can reveal.

The move is likely to benefit Post Office branches, who now represent the only nearby options for many MoneyGram service users.

In messages on an external Tesco staff forum, one employee stated: “A lot of stores are loosing the MoneyGram service[ …] I’m wondering why the service has gone? We are a very busy store, we are near many warehouses that employ a lot of Eastern Europeans that use this service.”

Complaints from Tesco shoppers online appear to show the removal of MoneyGram services has been ongoing atleast since April this year.

Asked about the removals a Tesco Bank spokesperson told Better Retailing: “Tesco Bank can confirm we’re closing our International Money Transfer (IMT) service at a number of our stores due to very low demand from customers.”

The firm failed to answer whether MoneyGram services were being withdrawn from all sites. In 2000, Tesco claimed the services were available in 800 stores but searches by RN on MoneyGram’s storefinder list only a handful of Tesco sites still providing the service.

Many supermarkets including Tesco have been slimming down services and features such as food and deli counters, glassware hire and pharmacy concessions. Analysts have described the changes as an attempt to remove operational cost to better compete with much more streamlined discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.

Lamenting the loss of Moneygram and other services, the staff member continued: “It seems that every service we offered has gone. No glass hire, no banking, no customer orders, no accompanied shops. In fact, everything that made us stand out from competitors has gone. At one time customers could come as a one stop shop destination, you could purchase everything. Customers may as well use budget supermarkets now, as we have nothing better to offer.”