On Tuesday, the largest private sector bank in India, HDFC Bank, and a financial services firm located in the UAE, Lulu Exchange, inked a contract to improve cross-border payments between India and the GCC.
The collaboration will create a digital inward remittance service called “RemitNow2India” in its initial phase. This service will enable residents of the UAE to transfer money to any bank account in India using IMPS and NEFT through HDFC’s digital banking channels.
“Our partnership capitalizes on each other’s advantages. While HDFC Bank could have access to remittances from Lulu Exchange’s staff, clients, and other stakeholders, Lulu Exchange might benefit from having a well-known brand and a large network. According to Arvind Vohra, group head of retail branch banking at HDFC Bank, “as a bank we can assist the people in UAE, notably the Indian diaspora, to bring money into the nation simply and smoothly.
“We are thrilled to work with HDFC Bank as a partner and make our remittance-as-a-service platform available on their digital banking products. “This partnership will build on existing capabilities to ease money transfer for thousands of Indian expats living in the UAE while laying the groundwork for the eventual integration of this service in other parts of the GCC where we have a presence,” said Adeeb Ahamed, MD, LuLu Financial Group. The UAE-India payments corridor is one of the largest in the world.
Through a number of online and offline efforts, HDFC and LuLu Exchange will build on their mutual goodwill, trust, regulatory expertise, and extensive service networks to further this cooperation.