20-Oct-10

Leading electronics payments technology firm, Visa, has received the RBI's approval to offer in-bound cross remittance to eligible Visa debit or prepaid cards issued in India. Visa's client banks can now promote money transfer capability as a new channel to receive international remittances. This permission makes Visa the only electronic cards payment technology company in India to support over 40 banks, including ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, and HDFC Bank. Cardholders of these banks will now be able to receive remittances on their Visa Debit and prepaid cards.

Financial Institutions and governments will be able to utilize the robust payment network of Visa and achieve a cost-effective and secure way to send funds directly to a Visa Debit or prepaid account, allowing the recipients to use the funds at any Visa accepting merchant or ATM. Current remittance options involve a high cost and are inconvenient for customers, who usually have to personally queue up at an agent, during working hours to collect their funds.

The process will also help the governments to achieve transparency, lower costs, and financial inclusion in the money transfer market.

According to the World Bank estimates, India is the largest recipient of recorded international remittances. The figures state that India received USD 49 billion in 2009, representing about 3.5% of the country's GDP and exceeds the total of FDI attached in the same period (USD 36.6 billion).

-