New Tech routes at India Post

With 155,000 locations, India Post serves a critical role in facilitating the distribution of funds in a country where less than 50 percent of the population has a bank account.

TORONTO: MoneyGram International, a global money transfer company, and India Post, the largest distribution postal network in the world, announced that their existing agreement to offer money transfer services through India Post outlets has expanded from an initial 100 locations to more than 650 locations across the country.

In a presentation before community dignitaries and media, MoneyGram officials discussed the importance of postal networks as part of its global distribution strategy, as well as plans for continued roll-out to additional locations of India Post in urban and rural areas of the country.Officials from Canada Post – the largest retail network in Canada, and whose locations have offered MoneyGram services for 10 years – were on hand to participate in the announcement, discussing the added convenience for Indo-Canadians who wire funds to family in India. According to Statistics Canada, the central statistical office that conducts the country’s official census, approximately 1.3 million natives of India live in Canada, with nearly 500,000 in the Toronto area.

With 155,000 locations, India Post serves a critical role in facilitating the distribution of funds in a country where less than 50 percent of the population has a bank account. According to the World Bank, India is the world’s largest inward remittance market, with $53.1 billion in incoming remittances last year.

“A key direction of MoneyGram’s growth strategy is to get closer to our customers where they live and work,” said Harsh Lambah, MoneyGram’s senior regional director for South Asia.

India Post and MoneyGram have planned joint marketing initiatives in several Indian states to support the expansion of the service. Through a promotion running in March and April, consumers who collect a MoneyGram transaction at a location of India Post will receive a free alarm clock, while supplies last.

“International inward remittances are playing an increasingly large role in the economies of many countries, contributing to economic growth and to the livelihoods of less prosperous people,” said India Post’s Shri Sachin Pilot, Hon’ble Minister of State for Communications & IT. “With MoneyGram, we will provide a valuable service to our customers, particularly in rural areas, who are not fully served by banks and other financial institutions, and it’s our intent to expand MoneyGram services to more post offices as quickly as possible.”

“For customers in Canada, they benefit from having the most accessible domestic market with Canada Post, to now having greater reach with India Post. It’s a collaboration that makes the customer a winner,” says Deepak Chopra, President and CEO, Canada Post.

Lambah noted that MoneyGram’s service is planned to expand to 5,000 India Post locations by 2014. The joint relationship and networks is expected to increase transactions from key remitter countries, including the United States, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. MoneyGram also offers services through postal systems in Canada, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, and the United Kingdom.

Source : http://www.ciol.com