Etisalat to facilitate NRI remittances from UAE via mobiles

Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates' leading telecom operator, has announced that the over 1.75 million Indian nationals living in the UAE will find it easier to send money home using their mobile phones, as the company is set to enter the $10 billion remittance market with a new service.
 
Etisalat has partnered with Citibank to start the programme in India, with plans to expand it to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt in the coming months, the group's chief marketing officer Essa al Haddad said in Dubai.

The service, which will be available later this month, will work with all types of mobile phones. "We are making it available for our Indian customers to send money to their relatives in India," al Haddad said. However, there was no word on how much the service would cost.

Etisalat holds a 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB Telecom India (formerly Swan Telecom). The company began mobile remittance trials to India and the Philippines in 2009 with several banking partners before finalising a deal with Citibank.

The company is also targeting Pakistani expatriates, who represent the second-largest remittance group 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 phones. This is predominantly used in the Philippines and Kenya due to its simplicity and reliability.

There is still no such service in India, despite big talk by government, senior bankers and others about the need to spread banking in the country's similarly deprived rural areas.
 
Etisalat says its programme is the first mobile remittance service to be launched in India, giving the company an advantage on competition as it prepares to expand in the region.