UAE expats increasingly remitting money to digital wallets, bank accounts
According to industry executives Wednesday, banks are enhancing their services and new fintech players are emerging in the market, which has allowed expatriates in the UAE - particularly those from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and other Asian countries - to remit funds to digital wallets and bank accounts with more ease.
Ananth Srivatsa, RAKBank's Executive Vice President and Head of Remittances, noted that the last few years have seen a significant increase in the number of foreign workers moving to the UAE and surrounding areas from nations across Africa and Asia.
“Like businesses continue to integrate digital payment solutions in their day-to-day operations, people are also sending money to their wallets or bank accounts because such accounts are available in countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In the last 5-6 years, a lot of banks have stepped up their game. You push a button and the funds are transferred to a account and both the remitter and beneficiary receive a notification confirming that the transaction is complete,” Srivatsa stated at the Banking, Innovation and Technology conference on Wednesday, adding that the remittance process has also discharged its clients completely from a long contact process with the banks.
Many digital channels are already being introduced in several developing Asian economies to induce their people in the United Arab Emirates and other regions to send money back home through digital means. The emergence of fintech players is also providing new avenues for the people as regards remittance needs and payment receiving.
Numerous banking as well as technology specialists and also people working in the fintech sector participated in the Banking, Innovation and Technology conference which took place in Dubai on Wednesday.
Srivatsa confided that during the launch of its services in the Philippines, the bank initiated its activities by offering wallet services.
He observed that stories and stereotypes that banks may be busier and pricier are myths mainly today in the UAE. “Yes, there are some pockets where there is room for improvement and they are catching up."
Abhishek Tripathi, senior product director, Careem Pay, mentioned line cards designed for such individuals are only used on a very limited basis and the rationale is to carry out beforehand solid research to minimize any adverse impact to the product once it is rolled out on a larger scale.
“We ask our customers to help us with the designs and give them samples of materials. If there are any changes to the asserted gains before it is launched it's done so that the product captures the required area,” he explained.
Tripathi elaborated that for customers who are remitting funds to different countries, naturally, their requirements and even expectations are different as well.
“When we provided the service from the UAE to Pakistan, the way people used the service differed from the way people used it when sending money to India and the UK. It is also extremely interesting, because when we offered the service to the UK, it was not only British residents that sent funds to the UK, it was also a lot of Indians and Pakistanis that sent money to British universities. All that goes in our product thinking,” he added.
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