Dubai, UAE -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/10/2012 -- The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the Number One Bank in the UAE, has added a new feature to its Arrow service, allowing customers to instantly transfer funds to any bank in India at a lower price through Federal Bank, one of the leading private sector banks in India.
This is the first time a bank has introduced a real-time international account to account money transfer service via mobile phones anywhere in the world.
By adding a remittance corridor to the Federal Bank in India through its Arrow mobile service in the UAE, NBAD gives mobile users greater security and instant control of their money across borders.
NBAD Arrow, the mobile based SMS payment service powered by Luup mobile payment technology, already allows users to send money to over 256,000 MoneyGram locations in 192 countries by two simple SMS messages. The new feature enables NBAD and non-NBAD customers to pay AED12 for their remittance to bank accounts in India. Money transfer times are cut to just seconds compared to the 2-3 days with standard mobile banking applications, giving users greater security, convenience and control.
“Indian nationals make up the largest expatriate group in the UAE and offering this service at such a low rate compared to the usual market price for their remittances adds a valuable saving to our customers,” says Ahmed Al Naqbi, the Head of Direct Banking & E Development at NBAD. “We are proud to be the first UAE bank to offer this real-time special bank-to-bank mobile service and allow customers to transfer funds using the bank’s competitive exchange rates and remittances fees.”
He added: “In addition to Arrow clients, NBAD Mobile Application users can also benefit from the new service to send money anywhere at anytime.”
The Federal Bank is the fourth largest private sector bank in India with branches across all states and additional remittance outlets via the Indian Bank Network (NEFT).
Launching the Service, Mr. Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director & CEO, Federal Bank said, “Through this new tie up NBAD, one of the largest banks in UAE offering state of the art remittance services, families of Indian expatriates can receive money realtime within seconds through Federal Bank. The Bank’s alliance with NBAD boosts Federal Bank’s never ending commitment to its customers and Indian expatriates. We are continually working to make new channels available to our customers and well wishers to access banking services so that they can meet their money transfer requirements hassle free.
“Federal Bank is the 4th largest private sector commercial banks in the country and is the largest traditional private sector Bank in Kerala. The Bank enjoys the trust and confidence of more than 8 Lakhs NRI customers across the world, which will be further enhanced with the availability of the NBAD Arrow Service. Federal Bank is having very strong presense in the remittance market and more than 7% of pan India remittance was routed through us last year.”
The Arrow services and award-winning1NBAD Mobile Applications are powered by Luup, NBAD’s global mobile payments partner. They offer customers full control over their account allowing them to transfer funds including remittance transactions, pay utility bills, make donations, and view all their accounts using their device.
Recently, the bank has enhanced its Mobile Phone Application services and extended them to all smart phone users. The enhanced application offers financial and non-financial services such as locating NBAD branches and ATMs and information about products and services. In addtion, NBAD Mobile App users can send their feedbacks and queries or even talk to NBAD representatives through email and call centre services that are built into the application.
“The market is constantly looking for reliable and inexpensive means to meet their banking and financial needs. This is why we continue to develop services, add more valuable benefits and employ advanced techonology to offer our customers utmost convenience when banking with us,” said Mr. Al Naqbi.
To benefit from this feature, customers should register with the Arrow service. NBAD online account holders can register by visiting https://arrow.nbad.com. Non-NBAD customers can link to Arrow by obtaining a prepaid card at any NBAD branch. Smart phone users can enjoy the new feature through downloading the NBAD Mobile Application for free.
1 In 2011, Arrow, the UAE’s first mobile phone money transfer and international remittance service, was named the best Mobile Payment Application and Best International Mobile Money Transfer programme.