BWI: Visa and Federal Bank Launch Near Real-Time International Remittance Solution

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Visa
Thursday, June 23, 2011 12:52 PM IST (07:22 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Economy, People; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Banking & financial services, Business services, Information technology; Technology
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Visa and Federal Bank Launch Near Real-Time International Remittance Solution
India's first activation of the Visa solution by Federal Bank enables Visa Debit cardholders to receive international remittances in minutes

Cochin, Kerala, India, Thursday, June 23, 2011 -- (Business Wire India) -- Visa and Federal Bank today announced the launch of a new solution that will allow Federal Bank Visa Debit cardholders to receive international remittances almost instantly. Federal Bank is the first bank in India to activate this solution with Visa.

The solution will allow recipients to receive funds in near real-time, giving them their money in minutes, quickly and securely. It is more convenient than other alternatives as recipients no longer have to visit an agent location to collect cash. Instead, funds are deposited directly onto cardholders' Visa cards, which can then be used to make purchases at all local merchant outlets which accept Visa cards.

This payment solution comes as a result of a major enhancement to the Visa network that enables Visa card accounts to receive funds in near real-time. The enhancement is expected to prompt a new generation of personal payment services on Visa cards - including mobile and cross-border remittances, electronic bill pay, and prepaid reloads.

"This new service is truly a milestone for Visa and is another example of Visa's constant drive to bring world-leading innovations to account holders and bank clients. This service squarely addresses the growing demand for faster and easier ways to receive international remittances and makes Visa Debit cards not only the best way to pay, but also to receive money quickly," said Uttam Nayak, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa.

"Federal Bank is proud to be the first bank in India to launch the program with Visa for faster remittances. We are confident that our large number of NRE customers and our Visa cardholders will enjoy the convenience it offers, establishing our leadership position in the international remittance space. We are continuously looking at enhancing our cardholders' experience with us through innovation and technological advancements. This service will enable us to strengthen our position as a bank of choice for Indian expatriates and their families," added Shyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO, Federal Bank.

For a start, Federal Bank customers in India will be able to receive near real time remittances sent from UAE Exchange. The launch with Federal Bank is part of the growing momentum for Visa's latest solution globally and closely follows a string of launches recently announced in the Philippines, UAE, US, Russia and Ukraine.

About the solution

- Indians working in the UAE can visit any one of more than 90 branches of UAE Exchange, the leading exchange house in the UAE, where they simply use the Visa card payment service by providing the recipient's Visa card number to initiate the funds transfer.
- The soltuion does away with the need for senders to fill out complicated forms and provide routing information such as bank codes and branch addresses.
- Funds are credited directly to the recipient's Visa Debit card in minutes, freeing recipients from having to visit agent locations to collect cash. The beneficiary is sent an SMS alert as soon as the funds are credited to his/her bank account and the funds are immediately available for use.
- No fee is charged to the beneficiary who receives the full transaction amount as decided by the sender.

About Visa

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks-VisaNet-that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com .

About Federal Bank

Federal Bank ranks fourth amongst the private sector commercial banks in India. The Bank has over 1500 business outlets comprising of 744 branches and 808 ATMs spread over important locations in India, in addition to free access to over 70,000 ATMs pan India. The Bank is a pioneer among traditional banks in India in the area of using technology to leverage its operations and was among the first banks in India to bring all its branches under Core Banking Solution. The bank has strong presence in the remittance business and has on-line remittance arrangements from anywhere in the world; the Bank has more than 50 inbound remittance tie ups with Exchange Houses/banks from the Gulf countries alone in addition to several correspondent arrangement with banks in the rest of the world.



CONTACT DETAILS
Anuja Sharma, Visa India, +91 9004604426, ansharma@visa.com
A Surendran, Federal Bank, +91 9447062382, surendran@federalbank.co.in
Preeti Hoon, Edelman India, +91 9987037821, Preeti.hoon@edelman.com
Tripti Modi, Edelman India, +91 9011021889, Tripti.modi@edelman.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ECONOMY, PEOPLE, MARKETING, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, TECHNOLOGY

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