IndusInd Bank today announced a collaboration with Wise, a global technology business specialising in moving and managing money around the world, to provide online inward remittance services to Non Resident Indians (NRIs) living anywhere in the world.
IndusInd Bank’s multi-partner remittance service platform – Indus Fast Remit (IFR) and Wise Platform – merged to provide NRIs with multi-currency inbound remittance service. Wise Platform, Wise’s infrastructure offering for banks and non-banks, is also being launched in India as a result of the merger of IFR and Wise Platform. The announcement also coincides with today’s International Day of Family Remittances.
Customers of ‘IndusInd Bank – Indus Fast Remit’ will be able to transfer money from two worldwide marketplaces, notably the US and Singapore, at highly competitive FX rates, allowing them to compare rates and know the precise credit amount without any mark-up. Cross-border money transfer through traditional financial institutions generally involves exorbitant costs and hidden fees. Indeed, according to an earlier Capital Economics report, people sending money into India from abroad paid over 21900 crores in foreign exchange costs in 2020, with around 7900 crores hidden as exchange rate markups on currency transfers. The remainder of the 14000 crores was spent on transaction costs.
Wise’s lightning fast and low cost international money transfers are available to IndusInd Bank customers directly through the bank’s Indus Fast Remit platform or its Internet banking platform. Customers will be able to view their transfer status and expected arrival time. Furthermore, transfers are quick – approximately 55% of Wise transfers are rapid (less than 20 seconds). Furthermore, initiating a transfer can be done online without visiting bank locations or dealing with any paperwork.
Through this agreement, NRIs can book remittance transactions on the IndusInd Bank Indus Fast Remit platform, and credit to beneficiaries will be routed through Wise’s RDA partners in India under the RBI’s Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) programme. Apart from remittance services, the Indus Fast Remit platform will enable NRI customers to open Non Resident External (NRE) / Non Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts with IndusInd Bank.
Speaking about the partnership, Soumitra Sen, Head – Consumer Banking and Marketing, IndusInd Bank, said, “At IndusInd Bank, it’s been our constant endeavor to bring forth path-breaking propositions that provide customers with a seamless banking and remittance experience. In keeping with this approach, we are proud to partner with Wise for our revamped Indus Fast Remit platform which enables NRIs to send money to a beneficiary in India at lower cost and at competitive conversion rates from 2 countries globally. We believe that this proposition will witness substantial traction amongst the NRIs, providing them with a comprehensive solution for seamless transfers to India.”
Rashmi Satpute, Country Manager, Wise India said: “At Wise, our mission is to make moving money faster, cheaper and more transparent for everyone, everywhere. Having launched transfers from India in 2021, today we are thrilled to double down on our commitment here and bring Wise Platform to India with IndusInd Bank onboard as our first partner. IndusInd Bank and Wise share a common vision of modernising the global financial system, and we’re delighted to team up to enable inexpensive, fast and transparent transfers to India for millions of NRIs abroad.”
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Indus Fast Remit is a one-of-a-kind multi-partner digital platform that facilitates remittances to India, particularly by Non Resident Indians (NRI). Users of Indus Fast Remit will be able to select from a number of Exchange Houses/Money Transfer Companies that offer competitive rates with a single sign-on and an end-to-end digital journey. The service will be provided by licenced overseas exchange houses/money transfer companies, and the funds would be sent to the beneficiary’s account in India through the RBI’s Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) Scheme.
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