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Ties up with Western Union Money Transfer for in-bound services

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE: (From left) Mr M. Balachandran, CMD, Bank of India; Mr Anil Kapur, MD, Western Union Services India; and Mr Ananthakrishna, Chairman, Karnataka Bank; at a press conference in Mumbai on Monday. - Paul Noronha

Mumbai , May 8

Bank of India has set a target of doubling its remittance business in the current fiscal.

The Chairman and Managing Director, Bank of India (BOI), Mr M. Balachandran, said that the bank's remittance business would double this fiscal from Rs 18,600 crore in 2005-06.

In the last fiscal, inward remittance accounted for Rs 10,100 crore and was primarily from the US and the UK.

BOI on Monday tied up with Western Union Money Transfer under the aegis of Karnataka Bank, to provide in-bound money transfer services. This means that Karnataka Bank, which is the principal agent of Western Union Money Transfer, has appointed BOI as its agent.

Western Union Money Transfer's services will be provided at 750 branches of the bank. "We are currently not present in Middle East and this tie up will help us gain business from this region. We expect 20,000 remittances this year, where the average amount would be $1000," said Mr Balachandran.

According to Mr Anil Kapur, MD, Western Union Services India Pvt Ltd, inward remittances to India have now grown to $22 billion annually from $11 billion three years ago.

"We expect inward remittances to increase two fold in the next three years,'' said Mr Kapur.

Bank of India also plans to acquire controlling stake in a bank in Indonesia and set up a subsidiary with a local bank in Tanzania.

The bank is now seeking regulatory approval in Indonesia and has studied the profile of around three of the local banks, said a BOI official.

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