Western Union unveils '15 dirhams' scheme for NRIs

Western Union Services India Private Limited (WUSIL) has unveiled its new initiative called '15 Dirhams pricing from UAE to Kerala' here today.

Under the new scheme, NRIs can transfer any amount of money to any authorised center of Western Union in Kerala for 15 dirhmas (Rs 180) subjcet to a maximum of 8,500 dirhams.

The company has slashed the original rate by 10 dirhams. According to Anil Kapur, managing director of WUSIL, the company initiated the scheme as a pilot project and, if found successful, it would be extended to other states too. The pilot scheme will be in effect till September 30, 2006.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that as a large chunk of the one million plus NRIs in UAE are Keralites, Kerala is the obvious choice for the pilot project. According to the Reserve Bank of India estimates, 21.7 billion USD is being remitted to India annually from abroad, mainly from the Gulf region.

WUSIL is giving top priority to this market in the country as NRIs remit the largest amounts to India. Western Union has 25,000 centers in the country of which 2000 are in Kerala.

As per the estimates of the World Bank, the total size of remittaces made by those who work abroad is around $232,00 crore annualy. The remittance market is growing at 8 percent per year and India had surpassed China recently.

Kerala is the top five markets in India and as a market development intitative, WUSIL has already tied up with Lord Krishna Bank, Muthoot group, Popular group and Kerala State Financial Enterprises for distributing money.