The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has launched a new mobile-based payment service, enabling instant transfer of funds to any bank in India at a lower price through Federal Bank, a leading private sector bank in India.

This is the first time a bank has introduced a real-time international account to account money transfer service via mobile phones anywhere in the world, a statement said.

By adding a remittance corridor to the Federal Bank in India through its Arrow mobile service in the UAE, NBAD gives mobile users greater security and instant control of their money across borders, the statement added.

NBAD Arrow, the mobile based SMS payment service powered by Luup mobile payment technology, already allows users to send money to over 256,000 MoneyGram locations in 192 countries by two simple SMS messages.

The new feature enables NBAD and non-NBAD customers to pay Dh12 ($3.26) for their remittance to bank accounts in India. Money transfer times are cut to just seconds compared to the 2-3 days with standard mobile banking applications, giving users greater security, convenience and control.

“Indian nationals make up the largest expatriate group in the UAE and offering this service at such a low rate compared to the usual market price for their remittances adds a valuable saving to our customers,” says Ahmed Al Naqbi, head of Direct Banking & E-Development at NBAD.

“We are proud to be the first UAE bank to offer this real-time special bank-to-bank mobile service and allow customers to transfer funds using the bank’s competitive exchange rates and remittances fees.”

He added: “In addition to Arrow clients, NBAD Mobile Application users can also benefit from the new service to send money anywhere at any time.”

The Federal Bank is the fourth largest private sector bank in India with branches across all states and additional remittance outlets via the Indian Bank Network (NEFT).

Shyam Srinivasan, managing director & CEO, Federal Bank said, “Through this new tie up with NBAD, one of the largest banks in UAE offering state of the art remittance services, families of Indian expatriates can receive money realtime within seconds through Federal Bank.”

“The Bank’s alliance with NBAD boosts Federal Bank’s never-ending commitment to its customers and Indian expatriates. We are continually working to make new channels available to our customers and well wishers to access banking services so that they can meet their money transfer requirements hassle free.

“The market is constantly looking for reliable and inexpensive means to meet their banking and financial needs. This is why we continue to develop services, add more valuable benefits and employ advanced technology  to offer our customers utmost convenience when banking with us,”  said Al Naqbi. – TradeArabia News Service