Etisalat To Facilitate Money Transfer To India

In a move aimed at extending the convenience of its mobile commerce initiatives, Etisalat today announced the start of a pilot service for Mobile Money Transfer from UAE to India. Etisalat will work with Mashreq , Tata Communications (formerly VSNL), Idea Cellular and HSBC India to roll out this convenient, secure and streamlined service following completion of the pilot phase. The service will be commercially available to the public by June 2008.

Customers enrolling for Mobile Money Transfer service will be provided a mobile wallet which can be loaded by transferring money from a partner bank account. The actual money transfer would be a simple menu driven process using just a few clicks. Transactions will be secured using a PIN chosen by customers. They will also be able to enquire about exchange rates at any point of time.
The service will enable Indian expatriates in UAE to transfer money to their relatives back home through Idea Cellular, with Tata Communications being the central hub for the service. HSBC India will be the banking channel for the funds transfer in India with Mashreq being the banking partner here in the UAE. The service will complement existing remittance channels and make transferring money internationally significantly more affordable once it is commercially rolled out.
The telecom operator plans to extend the service three more countries by the end of the year. In addition, the company is in the process of launching mobile banking, parking, ticketing, government payments and purchases in the UAE.