Customers will be able to send money overseas, book airline tickets and apply for passports and visas all under one roof thanks to the launch of a new business in the Economic Empowerment Zone (EEZ).

The MoneyShop, which is based in Dundonald Street and officially opened last Sunday, was the brainchild of owner Lois Wilson and lives up to its principle of 'simple, fast and convenient'.

The company, which is a division of Bermuda Direct and is licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, offers everything from money and travel to office services, but its main business is the money service through MoneyGram, for which it has the exclusive rights in Bermuda.

Other services include cheque cashing, bill payment, overseas payments and foreign exchange, while its travel offering extends to cars and hotels, as well as offering typing, scanning and copying/faxing services.

The MoneyShop also charges no ticket booking fees and has translation available in Portuguese.

As the first person to obtain a money service licence on the Island, Ms Wilson noticed a change in the country's demographic with more ex-patriates seeking to send money back to their families back home quickly and efficiently and parents wiring money to their children studying abroad, so decided to set up the money transfer service.

She said that MoneyGram offered the advantage of having thousands of locations worldwide and contracts with banks globally and post offices in the UK, with the ability to send money to places such as Jamaica, Panama and Sri Lanka.

It also enabled those moving to Bermuda to receive money from overseas, according to Ms Wilson.

She chose the EEZ as the ideal place to do business and put something back into the community of North East Hamilton.

"I found it very difficult to find real estate space in Bermuda," she said.

"But we found a small space in the EEZ, which I feel really good about.

"I wanted to bring a business to the people and it is a good fit with the area being next to a variety store where people can drop in to get a soda and transfer some money, book a flight or apply for a passport."

Ms Wilson, who previously worked at C-Travel, runs a number of other ventures including Wilson Associates, as well as working as a consultant for local companies, with plans to launch technology company Ion Bermuda Ltd. in the future.

Since leaving C-Travel in November 2008, Ms Wilson said that Western Union has taken most of the money service business, but she reckons that the competition is healthy and there is room in the market for both of them.

Bermuda Financial Network Ltd., which is run by Ms Wilson's husband Alvin, started its money transfer service operations in conjunction with Western Union in May 2008.

"Western Union needed some competition anyway and there are some things we will be developing side by side and others offering as an alternative," said Ms Wilson.

Meanwhile the recession has not hit her enterprises as hard as some.

"I didn't find the recession challenging, in fact, my companies are having their most profitable years and are expanding and growing at the moment," she said.

Having been open for almost one week, Ms Wilson said the throughput of customers has been good so far, with a lot of demand for visas and UK passports. The company also handles work permits and spousal letters.

The company employs three staff, each offering customised services, and is looking to take on more as well as launching an online money transfer tool in the coming months. Ultimately Ms Wilson wants to provide the new way of doing travel online with a highly personalised service to offer good value for money.

"What I would like to do in the future is to bring some nice promotions to seniors and young people and to recognise people positively," she said.

The Money Shop is open from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information contact 232-2274 or email loiswilson@me.com