UAE Exchange to acquire Indian online remittance business

Business Wednesday 26/October/2016 13:36 PM
By: Times News Service
UAE Exchange to acquire Indian online remittance business

Muscat: UAE Exchange, the global remittance, foreign exchange and payment solutions brand, on Wednesday said that it has reached a deal to acquire the online remittance business ‘Remit2India’ from TimesofMoney, India. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
Founded in 2000, Remit2India is an online brand, which has over 500,000 customers, mainly Indian expatriates, in the US, Canada, Australia and various other countries. Remit2India has developed proprietary technology for the delivery of rapid and reliable remittance services to its customers.
The proposed transaction is in line with the UAE Exchange’s philosophy of growing its digital presence. TimesofMoney had through Remit2India pioneered the online remittance business to India back in 2001 and has several industry ‘firsts’ to its credit.
This acquisition is envisaged to significantly help expand the digital remittance business of UAE Exchange as well as improve its customer proposition across key send markets like the US, the UK and Australia.
“This is a significant step for us and is fully aligned with our strategy to expand and excel in the digital space. Remit2India is a pioneer in online remittances and we look forward to combining our expertise and knowledge as the world’s leading remittance business with Remit2India technology, to complement and accelerate our growth,” said Dr B. R. Shetty, chairman of the UAE Exchange Group and vice chairman of the Travelex Group.
Speaking on the deal, Promoth Manghat, chief executive officer of UAE Exchange Group said; “Digital is going to be a key driver of this industry with consumer adoption gaining tailwinds and we expect a significant surge in this digital opportunity.”
“We are excited about working with the management team of Remit2India, who were instrumental in successfully building this global online remittance business. We believe, our global infrastructure and expected synergies with Remit2India, will add significant value to customers and provide a tailor-made solution to the banks and other institutional partners using TimesofMoney’s remittance platform,” he added.
The proposed deal is expected to be closed out in the first quarter of 2017 subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other conditions. UAE Exchange, which has been operating for 36 years, is the most widely networked remittance institution globally, with close to 800 branches spread across 31 countries in five continents.
UAE Exchange handled $27.56 billion worth of transactions in 2015 and has nearly 6 per cent share in the business to developing countries. The World Bank estimates that in 2014, global remittances were at $583 billion, of which $435 billion was to developing countries.