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Etisalat KERALA - Starts Test Signal
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Etisalat will introduce remittance by mobile
David George-Cosh
[*]Last Updated: January 03. 2010 4:54PM UAE / January 3. 2010 12:54PM GMT
[/list]ABU DHABI // Indian expatriates living in the Emirates will soon be able to send money home using their mobile phone, a service that could threaten the hold of currency exchange houses on the US$10 billion (Dh36.7bn) remittance business.
Etisalat partnered with Citibank to set up the programme and plans to expand the service to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt in the coming months, said Essa al Haddad, the group chief marketing officer of Etisalat.
“We are making it available for our Indian subcontinent customers to send money to their relatives in India,” Mr al Haddad said.
The service, which will be available later this month, will work with basic mobile phones. Etisalat did not say how much it would cost.
Roughly $52bn in remittances were transferred to India in 2008 from expatriates working across the Gulf, according to the World Bank. The UAE represents about 13 per cent of total remittances to India.
“It sounds like with something like this it will be much easier to send money back to India,” said Imthiaz Abbas, 32, a showroom manager at Oriental Stores in Dubai Festival City.
“Direct remittance on the mobile will be much faster than to come to a retail exchange store.”
But Mr Abbas, who sends about Dh20,000 each month to Bangalore to cover loans and provide for his family, remains concerned about the safety of sending money through his mobile device.
“I want to make sure there’s no security issues so I don’t lose money along the way,” he said. “I’m also curious to see how much Etisalat will charge. That could decide whether I use the service or not.”
The company’s plans to extend the service to other countries depend on finding bank partners to help manage the cash flow.
Etisalat began mobile remittance trials to India and the Philippines last year with several banking partners before finalising a deal with Citibank.
There are 1.75 million Indian nationals in the UAE, the largest expatriate group in the country. Their remittances contribute significantly to the Indian economy.
Pakistani expatriates represent the second-largest group of expatriates in the UAE, at about 1.2 million.
Mobile money transfer is a major business for banks and telecom operators in developing countries where many residents do not have a bank account.
Instead, they use scratch cards to acquire funds on their mobile subscription. The service is used predominantly in the Philippines and Kenya due to its simplicity and reliability.
However, Etisalat’s programme is the first mobile remittance service to be launched in India, giving the company an advantage on its competition as it prepares to expand in the country.
The mobile remittance initiative is viewed by Mr al Haddad as one of several new revenue streams Etisalat will pursue to diversify its conventional operations.
“The conventional revenue streams that many telecom operators have enjoyed will drastically decline over the next three to five years,” Mr al Haddad said. “Now you’ll see telecoms getting involved in the financial side of business.”
The GSM Association, an organisation that develops global mobile standards, has established a framework that provides operators with a service to give mobile subscribers the ability to transfer funds using their phones.
Smart Communications, a Philippines-based mobile operator, partnered with Western Union, the US-based wire transfer firm, to begin a pilot programme to set up a mobile remittance campaign
David George-Cosh
[*]Last Updated: January 03. 2010 4:54PM UAE / January 3. 2010 12:54PM GMT
[/list]ABU DHABI // Indian expatriates living in the Emirates will soon be able to send money home using their mobile phone, a service that could threaten the hold of currency exchange houses on the US$10 billion (Dh36.7bn) remittance business.
Etisalat partnered with Citibank to set up the programme and plans to expand the service to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt in the coming months, said Essa al Haddad, the group chief marketing officer of Etisalat.
“We are making it available for our Indian subcontinent customers to send money to their relatives in India,” Mr al Haddad said.
The service, which will be available later this month, will work with basic mobile phones. Etisalat did not say how much it would cost.
Roughly $52bn in remittances were transferred to India in 2008 from expatriates working across the Gulf, according to the World Bank. The UAE represents about 13 per cent of total remittances to India.
“It sounds like with something like this it will be much easier to send money back to India,” said Imthiaz Abbas, 32, a showroom manager at Oriental Stores in Dubai Festival City.
“Direct remittance on the mobile will be much faster than to come to a retail exchange store.”
But Mr Abbas, who sends about Dh20,000 each month to Bangalore to cover loans and provide for his family, remains concerned about the safety of sending money through his mobile device.
“I want to make sure there’s no security issues so I don’t lose money along the way,” he said. “I’m also curious to see how much Etisalat will charge. That could decide whether I use the service or not.”
The company’s plans to extend the service to other countries depend on finding bank partners to help manage the cash flow.
Etisalat began mobile remittance trials to India and the Philippines last year with several banking partners before finalising a deal with Citibank.
There are 1.75 million Indian nationals in the UAE, the largest expatriate group in the country. Their remittances contribute significantly to the Indian economy.
Pakistani expatriates represent the second-largest group of expatriates in the UAE, at about 1.2 million.
Mobile money transfer is a major business for banks and telecom operators in developing countries where many residents do not have a bank account.
Instead, they use scratch cards to acquire funds on their mobile subscription. The service is used predominantly in the Philippines and Kenya due to its simplicity and reliability.
However, Etisalat’s programme is the first mobile remittance service to be launched in India, giving the company an advantage on its competition as it prepares to expand in the country.
The mobile remittance initiative is viewed by Mr al Haddad as one of several new revenue streams Etisalat will pursue to diversify its conventional operations.
“The conventional revenue streams that many telecom operators have enjoyed will drastically decline over the next three to five years,” Mr al Haddad said. “Now you’ll see telecoms getting involved in the financial side of business.”
The GSM Association, an organisation that develops global mobile standards, has established a framework that provides operators with a service to give mobile subscribers the ability to transfer funds using their phones.
Smart Communications, a Philippines-based mobile operator, partnered with Western Union, the US-based wire transfer firm, to begin a pilot programme to set up a mobile remittance campaign
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