HDFC Bank, Lulu Exchange Partner To Boost Cross-Border Payments Between India And Middle East

India's largest private sector bank – HDFC Bank, and UAE based financial services company – Lulu Exchange, on Tuesday signed an agreement to strengthen cross-border payments between India and GCC region.

In its first phase, the partnership will draw on Lulu Exchange's expertise and regulatory framework to launch a digital inward remittance service titled 'RemitNow2India' that will allow resident individuals of UAE to send money to any bank account in India via IMPS and NEFT through HDFC's digital banking channels.

“Our partnership builds on each other's strengths. While HDFC Bank potentially gains access to remittances from Lulu Exchange's employees, customers and other stakeholders, Lulu Exchange can capitalise on a trusted name with a vast network. As a bank we can help the people in UAE particularly the Indian diaspora to send money conveniently and in a seamless manner into the country,” Arvind Vohra, group head – Retail Branch Banking, HDFC Bank, said.

The partnership will also look to strengthen the existing relationship between the two entities in India, where LuLu Financial Group operates LuLu Forex and the NBFC division LuLu Finserv.

UAE-India payments corridor

“We are delighted to partner with HDFC Bank and enable our remittance-as-a-service platform on their digital banking solutions. The UAE-India payments corridor is one of the largest in the world, and this partnership will build upon existing capabilities to ease money transfer for thousands of Indian expats living in the UAE, while setting the foundation for the eventual integration of this service in other parts of GCC where we have a presence,” said Adeeb Ahamed, MD, LuLu Financial Group.

Both HDFC and LuLu Exchange will leverage each other's goodwill, trust, regulatory tech, and vast service network to extend this partnership through a series of online and offline initiatives.

As per World Bank's latest 'Migration and Development, the top five nations for remittances in 2022 were India (topping $100 billion for the first time), Mexico ($60 billion), China ($51 billion), the Philippines ($38 billion) and Egypt ($32 billion).

In addition to this, recent data from RBI's Remittance Survey 2021 show that US, the UAE, the UK and Singapore are four leading countries in sending remittances to India, and together account for 54 per cent of India's remittance inflows.

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