First Global Data: "First in the World" Social Messaging Multi Integrated Remittance Platform

First Global Data (FGD.V) (FGBDF) announced that it completed the first phase of beta testing with LianLian Pay to provide remittance functionality on WeChat. The company made the bold statement that it "believes that this is the world's first social messaging multi integrated remittance platform whereby SOCIAL converges on FINTECH in the flow of cross border money."

A deal between Western Union and WeChat sounds kind of similar at first, and was brought up by some naysayers against the stock. Instead of going to FGD management for clarification, they assume the worst about this deal. I decided to make myself useful and sent the following email to CEO Andre Itwaru earlier today:

This was Andre's response:

So when people bring up what looks like competition or that the company is over-embellishing their accomplishments, make sure to dig deeper. I am very pleased with Andre's response. Many companies I have dealt with have been evasive when interrogated like this. Andre gave a very straight answer.

If one is wondering, "well, it may not be as integrated, but Western Union still has a deal with WeChat. FGD and LianLian won't be the only player in town". Remember that a fully integrated tech solution is far more sticky than a marketing deal. In my opinion, a deal like this for FGD makes it a buyout target for Western Union. If Western Union has the marketing deal and FGD has seamless integration into the platform, it just makes too much sense for Western Union to go after FGD in order to solidify its position on WeChat. Or at a minimum look for a friendly collaboration. The platform must be proven first and it is just in the beta testing phase so it's not there yet. Don't go rushing out to buy the stock just because I said it was a buyout target. Use your head and come to your own conclusions.