Axis Bank, the third largest private sector bank in India, continues to expand its partner network across the GCC region aiming to further strengthen its remittance offerings, said a top official.

The bank has a specific focus on getting into more arrangements with correspondent banks while continuing to actively manage its large existing exchange house relationships, added Rajiv Anand, group executive & head, Retail Banking, Axis Bank.

“This has resulted in a robust growth at a CAGR of 26 per cent over the past 3 years in remittance volumes from UAE and we shall continue to look at growing aggressively for FY16-17 as well,” he added.

Axis Bank which caters to NRIs in UAE through its offices here and through tie ups with other banks and financial institutions in the GCC, offers completely automated remittance processing engine, AxisRemit Direct, available to exchange houses and correspondent banks.

A complete suite of disbursement options is also available, which includes Instant credit to Axis Account Holders and instant seamless processing for third party account holders through all electronic payment modes - NEFT, RTGS and IMPS.

“Our strategy of expanding our partner network of exchange houses and correspondent banks in the region is to provide additional channels of money transfer to our existing NRI customers as well as to leverage these relationships to acquire new NRI customers,” Anand said.

“To support these remittance relationships, we have a versatile platform that supports a range of message transmission modes from API-based integration for Banks and large Exchange Houses to file-based transmission and transaction-level input for Partners with small to medium scale operations.

“In-built business validations that automate compliance checks would ensure regulatory adherence with minimal manual intervention. The platform is in the process of further enhancement with additional payment options being enabled that align directly with the NRI’s needs in India allowing our Partners to offer these value added services to their customers,” he added.

He said a dedicated operations unit, Centralized Remittance Hub, has also been setup to provide efficient operational support and customer service to our Institutional Remittance Partners. “In addition, Online FX Booking Portal, FX Connect, which allows our Partners to carry out real time FX trades with the bank, has also been offered,” he said.

“GCC and Africa form a significant part of the Bank’s business.  Through own offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and through business tie ups with other banks elsewhere, Axis Bank covers the region extensively,” Anand explained.

“As DIFC grows further to become a formidable part of the local economy, Axis Bank will play more active role.  Through the Representative Offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, we support service requirements of NRIs who hold or want to hold a banking account in India. The representative offices are governed by the UAE Central Bank regulations,” Anand concluded. – TradeArabia News Service