India’s Largest Private Bank, ICICI Bank’s Approach to “International Remittances”
THE REMITTANCES OPPORTUNITY
International remittances from migrant foreign workers have grown to have an important economic impact on developing countries receiving them. The World Bank estimates migrant remittances at an annual value of USD 268 billion (as in 2006), growing at an estimated 10% year-after-year. A market traditionally being dominated by Money Transfer Operators, banks are now beginning to awaken to its potential revenue and customer acquisition opportunities. Remittances can offer significant business opportunities for banks:
1. Business Income:
Banks can look forward to three levels of earnings through remittances:
Upfront Fees
Remittance charges,
Forex income, and
Float income.
2. Growth in market share:
Banks are able to offer lower costs, making them competitive with Money Transfer Operators. This enables banks to expand market share in one or more regions.
3. New business and customer loyalty growth:
Remittances are value-added services from the bank to its customers, as well as effective tools to attract new customers.
FAST FACTS
Location: India
The Bank: India’s largest private sector bank
Assets: US$ 79 billion
Solution: International Remittance Solution
There are critical issues, however, which Banks must address to emerge as serious players in the business:
· A need to establish a correspondent network in the targeted origination or recipient countries.
· A lack of universal standards and instruction formats for remittances.
· Cater to customer requirements such as convenient transfer options, transparency of rates and fees, and speed and assurance of delivery.
· Adhere to regulatory compliance needs like “Know Your Customer”, “Anti Money Laundering” and “Fraud Detection”.
But how does a bank go about achieving it? How can a well-established bank from a remittance recipient developing country present itself in the remittance initiating developed countries and emerge as a dominant remittance service provider? This report
captures the rise of one such player – ICICI Bank Ltd, which dominates the inward remittances into India from across the globe.
INDIA-BOUND REMITTANCES: THE MARKET
India is the largest recipient of remittances with migrant remittances in excess of USD 26 billion in FY 2006. Based on migration patterns, India inward remittance volumes are polarized across select corridors. The chart below depicts the significant share of US, Europe and Gulf (Middle East) originating remittances. Secondly, Indian migrants depict a varied profile across geographies – blue collared works in the Gulf countries, and largely white collared, knowledge workers in the US and Europe. This leads to two distinct user groups of remittance services with extremely different banking habits. The remittance objectives vary from family maintenance to include investments and buying property in the home country. The solution strategy on remittance services has to factor in these preferences. ICICI Bank has managed to create and implement differential strategies to address the needs of both communities.
THE ICICI BANK APPROACH
ICICI Bank’s key focus in the remittances space was towards building access to low cost and convenient remittances, for both the remitters and the beneficiaries. The value perceived by the overall remittance community was on following lines-
· Increased and easier accessibility for the remitter and beneficiary
· Simpler processes on registration, transaction requests and status follow-ups
· Faster transfers and payout to the beneficiary
· A reduced overall remittances cost per transaction to the remitter
Studying Migration Patterns and Key Corridors
The business strategy that ICICI Bank evolved was based on a close study of the target customers:
(A) Distinct customer segments initiating remittances
* White collared remitters, technology workers and the likes, - originating largely in the US, UK and Japan
* Blue collared remitters, labor manpower like contract laborers, maids, drivers, technicians, originating largely
in the Gulf countries
(B) Different remittance and banking patterns
* The white collared migrants originate large ticket transfers and are highly banked at both ends – origination and distribution.
* The blue collared migrants typically lead to small ticket transfers and are comparatively under-banked
connecting to small towns in the receiving countries
(C) Differential preferences on the choice of the remittance mechanism
* The knowledge workers prefer the innovative methods like online transfers, account debits that are relatively low in cost and high on convenience.
* The blue collared workers prefer the traditional methods of money transfer in the form of cash deposits and withdrawals through physical branches or agent networks, that are relatively high in convenience and speed, but high in cost as well.
THE BUSINESS STRATEGY
The remittances business is largely a low-value, high volume retail payments model. Existing payment transaction mechanisms did not suit well to offer low cost services per transaction. ICICI Bank realized that the money transfer market asked for a creative approach and an independent, dedicated focus on the business. The bank brought in significant innovation and productization based on the use of technology and alliances.
THE PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY
The remittance services model was based on the strategy of building a technologically capable platform strengthened further by creating multiple partnerships in key geographies. The partnerships leveraged the complementary strengths of ICICI Bank – in terms of a strong India distribution and large beneficiary customer base, and strengths of the partner banks – in terms of Enhanced reach and origination capability, and specific targeting of the Indian NRI (non-resident Indians) community in the respective geographies.
ICICI Bank chose specialized partners with deep reach in key origination markets.
UK: Alliance with Lloyds Bank. Remitters can integrate their accounts in ICICI Bank, UK with accessible
Lloyds Bank branches
USA: Partnered with Wells Fargo Bank. Remitters can open Remittance Account at the bank and initiate
transactions through ATM, Internet and Wells Fargo branches.
Gulf: Predominantly a cash transfer market, multiple models to build reach to the remitters. ICICI Bank’s own branches in some regions, tie-ups with Emirates bank and Commercial bank of Qatar; and aggregation of transactions through partnered Exchange Houses (Money Changer Agencies). The partner agency users are provided access to ICICI Bank’s proprietary online system to enter remittance instructions provided by remitters.
Singapore: Alliance with DBS Bank, which shares good equity within the Indian community in Singapore. The partners are also benefited in this relationship based on the volume of business, and even more from the profitable relationship with the remitters as they avail other account related services from them.
THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Technology offered the options to use alternate transaction request and payment delivery channels, build scalability and reduce costs through automation. A dedicated technology and processing infrastructure has helped the bank to minimize costs and improve service levels to the remitters.
This technology contribution highlights the role of leading vendors like CashTech Solutions, a Fundtech company, in providing specialized Remittance Management Solutions. The bank’s offering strengthened on account of rich platform features.
v Web-based technology platform leading to instant access and initiation for remitters as well as for bank users.
v Largely automated funding, forex and centralized payment processing enabling a high degree of Straight Through Processing.
v Focus on better customer service: continuous online status tracking and dedicated customer care call center.
v Remittance system well integrated with the other banking and processing systems of the bank leading to significant cost savings.
v The cost savings are then being passed on to the customer, making the overall remittance service extremely competitive.
v Automated connectivity of the remittances system to electronic clearings locally at both the origination and distribution side. This improved both the processing speed as well as reach across bank branches.
