Idea Cellular, Tata Communications, Etisalat UAE team up with HSBC India to launch global money transfers

07 May 2008

Mumbai: Idea Cellular Limited Communications, Tata Communications, UAE's telecom services provider Etisalat and HSBC India, today announced the launch of a pilot with for a mobile phone-based, secure and convenient money remittance service to its subscribers in India.

As part of this service, UAE-based Indian workers abroad to transfer money, to their families in India.

The service will enable Indian expatriates in the UAE to transfer money to their relatives back home through Etisalat's secure Mobile Remittance service, with Tata Communications being the central hub for the service. HSBC India will be the banking channel for the funds transfer and disbursement in India with Mashreq being the banking partner in the UAE. The service will complement existing remittance channels and make transferring money internationally significantly more affordable. This is planned as a targeted service wf\ere the Mobile Money Transfer service will be made enabled on the India - UAE "corridor", covering the large Indian NRI community residing in the UAE.

In the first phase, this service which is jointly being launched with TATA Communications, Etisalat and HSBC India will be extended to the over 27 iakh subscriber base of IDEA Cellular in Kerala, the service will enable the expat Indian population in the UAE, to transfer money from their bank accounts using their mobile phones, directly into any designated bank account of an Idea subscriber residing in India, The facility also affords the sender the ability to easily track the transaction from remittance till such time as the money reaches the recipient.

"Studies have revealed that remittances have greatly influenced income, consumption and savings patterns in Kerala," said Pradeep Shrivastava, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular Limited. "We are certain that the convenience and ease of use of this new remittance service, will be a significant value add for our 27 lakh subscribers in Kerala. Creating broad based financial empowerment to our subscribers, this mobile based service will be truly cost effective and path breaking, helping us further build on our leadership position in the Kerala circle."

Speaking for Tata Communications, Vinod Kumar, president, Global Data & Mobility Services, said, "This service is only the beginning of Tata Communications' plans to create a global hub for interoperability of all Mobile Commerce transactions. "Our dedication to the mCommerce space reinforces Tata Communications' commitment to the continued development of new, innovative value added services for mobile network operators."