People from UP, Bihar and Rajasthan are still going abroad in the unskilled and semi-skilled category: Xpress Money COO

Money transfer is a very important business in recent times around the world. With globalisation people have started moving to different countries and send remittances to home.

A country like India where family and social values are given a lot of importance, non-resident Indians (NRIs), employed outside the country often send money to family, friends or relatives in India.

According to a World Bank report, 'Total remittances in 2014 reached $583 billion. India received $70 billion, China $64 billion, the Philippines $28 billion.'

Sudhesh Giriyan, COO, Xpress Money, a money transfer company which started its operations from Cardiff, UK in 1999 was recently visiting India and Business Today Digital shares the exclusive and insightful interview about the unique offerings that promote financial inclusion and the latest remittance trends with respect to India.

Q How big is your India portfolio?

A- Last year, India received around 70 billion dollars from abroad. Out of which about 55 billion dollars went into bank accounts maintained by NRIs. Other 15 billion came through the cash remittances. We have 20 per cent share in the cash remittances.

Q Out of your overall business, how big is India's contribution?

A- Of the total remittances that we do, India contribution is around 35 per cent and around 45 per cent of remittances come from middle-east.

Q Can you put some light on the company's expansion plans in India and abroad?

A- At present, we operate in 150 countries. We are going to open our office in Bhutan next week. In India, we have 50,000 locations for payouts including 30 odd banks, NBFCs, retail locations etc. In Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, we have 14,000, 7000 and 4,500 locations, respectively.

There are around 22 countries in the Pacific Region around Australia. We are already present in about 10 countries. We are planning to open our locations in other countries also in the next one-and-a-half year. By the end of this year, we will cross 200 countries mark globally.

Coming back to India, the country has been one of the biggest markets for us for the past many years. Here, we also have a tie-up with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and State Bank of India (SBI) for cash to card product. We launched cash to card product with PNB and SBI in November 2012 and July 2013, respectively.

Q Can you explain about the cash to card product?

A- person who does not have a bank account can go to our location and after a KYC; we issued a card which is either powered by Master or Visa card. From there on, the money will go to the card. Beneficiary does not have to go to physical locations for the payout. He can go to any of the ATMs in India and get money. The card is issued on receive side in India and it is available at free of cost. After every three years, we renew the card at our cost.

Q Are you looking into other tie-ups?

A- Yes, there are few discussion going on. In coming months, we can see some more tie-ups.

Q Do you see any demographic shift or trends changing in India related to cash remittances?

A- Well, Kerala has been the biggest traffic of remittances. Lot of Keralites used to go out for small jobs in a skilled or unskilled segment. These numbers are on a declining trend. Keralites are not going out anymore. I am told that Keralites can now easily earn Rs 700-800 per day in Kerala. Even they work for 20 days they can easily earn Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 per month. So they are not moving to middle-east countries. They prefer to stay with their families.

However, lots of Keralites are travelling in skilled segment on the hope of better job opportunities where earning potential is higher than India.

Meanwhile, a higher percentage of people from UP, Bihar and Rajasthan are still going abroad in the unskilled and semi-skilled category.

Q You have been working for long. Do you see any changes in the working environment of remittances business?

A- Yes, there is a paradigm shift in remittances business. About 15-20 years back drafts were very common in money transfer. During the period, either the sender sent the draft on his own or it would be couriered by the exchange company to the beneficiary address or to the bank directly. The timeline to get money in the account were 5-10 days. Today, it is instant through players like us. So technology has made us more efficient and allowed us to service the clients in a better way.