Exchange house planning another branch in Al Khor

QATAR : Bringing relief to Indian expatriates in the Al Khor Industrial area, National Exchange, run by India’s public sector Syndicate Bank, will open another branch there by March as part of its effort to improve its market share in money remittances.

The branch, for which necessary approval has been obtained from the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), will provide free door-pick-up services in labour camps and then send to beneficiaries back in India.

“We have received licence for opening another branch in Al Khor Industrial Area,” Syndicate Bank chairman N Kanthakumar told reporters yesterday.

The exchange house, which now commands 15-20% market share in remittances market, will offer full fledged services, he added.

The new branch and the recent kicking off of its e-remittance services are part of its strategy to boost its market share in the market to 25% by March 2007, National Exchange general manager Sudhir Kini said.

At present, the National Exchange’s office is in Souq Al Jabor, near the Alfardan Centre, so people from far flung areas have to travel long distances to remit the money. “The new branch will be a great relief to those in the Al Khor Industrial area,” he added.

Started in 1983, National Exchange already roped in IDBI Bank to use the latter’s network to Reserve Bank of Indiaís RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) system for transferring money to any branch/bank at no extra cost other than the usual service charges of QR15 irrespective of the amount remitted.

The exchange, which championed such concept in Qatar, has been electronically transferring funds to respective accounts to Syndicate Bank, Federal Bank and Punjab National Bank on a bilateral basis.

This is the first time the exchange house has taken such an initiative to enable fund transfer to almost 15,000 branches in India.

We are undertaking at least 20 transactions per day and it is a good start,” he added.

The advantage with such remittances is that drafts could be prepared back in India (either in Mumbai or Kochi) and send to beneficiaries within 24 hours through courier, Kanthakumar said.

The money transfer to the respective beneficiary account takes place on the next day of remittance in banks and branches connected to RTGS, while it will take 2-3 days to those branches/banks not connected by the system.

Syndicate Bank recently tied up exchange houses in Bahrain and Kuwait for demand draft, thus totaling agreements with 11 such entities, Kanthakumar said.