Its raining remittance solutions in India- the country to which its people working abroad send the highest amount of money in the world.
In the last four weeks, at least three major players including ICICI Bank and Yes Bank, have launched online or offline remittance platforms for Non Resident Indians and Indians within the country to send money back home.
Indians working abroad sent home a staggering $70 billion in 2012, the highest among the countries in the world. Developing countries are estimated to have received $406 billion in 2012 and this is expected to grow by 8 % in 2013 and 10 % in 2014 (report link).
On Monday, payments solutions provider Avenues India launched online remittance service called Remit Guru for NRIs in partnership with IndusInd Bank. Two days later, private sector bank Yes Bank partnered with TimesofMoney to launch YES Remit, an online remittance platform. The bank does not charge any transaction fee on remittances.
In December, ICICI Bank partnered with Tata Teleservices to launch domestic money transfer services. Earlier in October, PayMate partnered with Muthoot Finance Limited to launch domestic remittance services to serve what it believes is an under-serviced market.
Domestic remittance in India is also expected to grow with increasing migrant population wanting to send money back home.
Last year, the government urged banks to improve infrastructure for remittances to reduce costs of remittance.