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| Money
transfer scheme catches up fast
news |
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James
Paul
19 November 2001 |
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Kochi:
With several private groups in the fray, the international
money transfer scheme is fast catching up in Kerala. Post
offices, which launched the service six
months ago, have also become beneficiaries of the upswing
in remittances through money transfer from non-resident
Keralites.
Post offices as well as private groups have tied up with
global money transfer agents like Western Union Financial
Services and MoneyGram of Thomas Cook for implementing
the scheme in the country. As it helps avoid the usual
hassles of sending the draft and encashing it, losing
valuable time in the process, people now increasingly
prefer this mode of transfer of funds.
Though Thomas Cook had started its first office in Kerala
in 1996, it was the UAE Exchange and Financial Services
that made a strong impact when it came into the scene
two years ago. It tied up with the UAE Exchange Centre
to start the instant money transfer service at important
NRI pockets in Kerala and other parts of the country from
the UAE, Oman and Kuwait.
 The
operation started with five branches and now it has 50
branches in India, with 28 in Kerala. The lower service
charge of Rs 300 for an average transaction of Rs 15,000
to Rs 20,000 is pointed out to be the reason for its success.
The total collection from the country is something between
Rs 35 crore and Rs 40 crore. The modus operandi
is nothing new. The sender, after remitting money, informs
the payee in India, who in turn can collect it from the
nearest centre after identifying himself.
Post offices came to the scene six months ago through
a tie-up with Western Union. At present, 120 post offices,
including 51 head post offices, in the state offer this
facility, says assistant director of postal services K
Ramachandran. Other post offices will also start the
service once the computerisation process is over. Western
Unions scheme went on stream in April, but the remittances
through post offices began to pick up only from September
2001.
Till the end of September 2001, the total transactions
through post offices in the state clocked over Rs 25 lakh
with 197 deals. The largest single transaction was over
Rs 4 lakh from Thiruvananthapuram, and the second largest
from Thrissur, amounting to Rs 2 lakh. The total amount
collected during the period in the country via post offices
was Rs 9.91 crore.
Overall, Kerala had the sixth position, with Andhra Pradesh
topping the list. Pathanamthitta post office gets the
maximum remittances in Kerala. The most active inflow
is from the US, and Ramachandran expects the flow can
be increased with more awareness.
The latest entrant into the money transfer service is
the Muthoot group. Muthoot Capital Services of the Muthoot
Pappachan group has tied up with MoneyGram, while the
Muthoot group has collaborated with Western Union. Muthoot
group assistant general manager K R Bijimon says his group
has already received 14 remittances totalling Rs 3 lakh,
most of which are from the US, after going operational
on November 5. We hope to achieve a target of Rs 1 crore
a month with 100 centres spread over Kerala.
Thomas Cook has four offices in Kerala, in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram,
all of which are dealing with money transfer through MoneyGram.
The low number of offices is not a major issue, says
S Kumar, in-charge of Thomas Cook operations in Kerala,
as people can approach any of the 104 branches of the
Muthoot group for receiving money. And the response has
so far been very good.
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