Hundreds of residents have been queuing up to send money abroad as Bermuda gets its first money transfer service in six years.

C Advantage received permission to operate MoneyGram from the Ministry of Finance after supplying them with reams of information and ensuring all the safety and reporting mechanisms were in place.

The service, in the C Travel office on Queen Street, had a soft opening on April 16 and the company was amazed at the response.

"I think it fair to say we were overwhelmed," Carl Paiva, chief executive officer of C Travel, said. "All I did was put a small sign on our door with the MoneyGram logo and suddenly people were pouring in. I think it fair to say that there was a large demand for this service in Bermuda.

"It's a broad cross-section of the community using it. We have had a lot of expatriate workers using it but we've also had Bermudians coming here to send money to their children in college. Cruise ship workers are another group of people who will use the service now that it is here. We knew it would be popular, but we were still surprised at the level of demand. Now we have three people working on MoneyGram transfers solely."

The service will also be popular for those without bank accounts. Banks here won't wire money for non-customers which has led to guest workers having to trust their savings to friends who are going back home.

Steve Higgins, Caribbean sales manager for MoneyGram, said the company has 150,000 locations in 180 countries. The company has partnerships with retail giant WalMart, all post offices in the UK, major banks in the Caribbean and the Azores largest bank, Montepio Bank. –"We wanted to come here because we realised there was a large immigrant population," he said. "And those people need an easy fast way to send money home. We guarantee a transfer arriving at its location within 10 minutes of it being sent off. We are very pleased to be operating in Bermuda now."

MoneyGram service will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and the company will accept cash, cheque or credit card. Rates vary depending on the amount of money being transferred and the destination country.