Western Union, Nabil Bank, Fonepay jointly offer mobile money transfer service

The cost of remittance inflow is going to come down encouraging the migrant Nepali workers to send their hard earned money back home through banking channels. They neither have to visit the Western Union outlets to remit back home.

Western Union, in collaboration with Nabil Bank and Fonepay, today launched a mobile money transfer service for relatives of migrant workers in Nepal from over 200 countries cutting down the cost of sending remittance.

The receivers will collect remittance directly into mobile wallet through Fonepay – powered by F1 Soft.

“Over 20,000 registered eSewa wallet users can cash their money out from any of the 1,200 direct and subagent locations of Nabil Bank,” according to president of F1 Soft Biswas Dhakal.

Consumers subscribed to eSewa mobile wallet can receive remittance sent in minutes from Western Union around the globe using their mobile phone-cum-wallet.

The customers can use their mobile account balance for fund transfers, utility payments, airtime topups, and purchasing goods and services at eSewa accepted websites.
Nepal has not only some 71.46 per cent mobile penetration rate, but is also one of the largest remittance receiving countries among the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) but high cost of remitting has encouraged the migrant workers send their hard earned money back through various dubious channels, hurting the economy.

The country received $4.9 billion – that is almost equivalent to 23 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) – in remittance in 2012.
The new option for remitters jointly offered by the Western Union, Fonepay and Nabil Bank to receive international remittance 24/7 through eSewa mobile wallet is expected to boost the remittance inflow through banking channels.

“Western Union is happy to expand mobile services to Nepal,” said senior vice president, Pacific and Indochina of Western Union, Patricia Riingen, on the launching ceremony, here today.

“We aim to expand its mobile footprint as part of our multi-product, multi-channel strategy across world,” she added.

Demand for workers in Gulf rises

Despite the regional political turmoil and the continuing global economic slowdown, demand for foreign workers remains high in the Gulf region, according to a study.
"Despite the political uprisings and civil unrest in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa, the region is still witnessing moderate growth, and in the Gulf countries there is an even stronger imperative to sustain economic growth and meet social needs," stated the study 'The Economic Impact of the Uprisings in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region,' sponsored by Western Union, a leader in money transfer and global payment services.
"We expect opportunities for international workers to remain strong and with that remittance flows from host to home countries," said Western Union’s senior vice president for the Middle East and Africa Jean-Claude Farah, adding that the Asia Pacific region has been a significant source of labour for Gulf countries –– led by Nepal, India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand.
"The study should instill greater confidence in global workers seeking employment in these countries," said managing director and senior vice president of Asia Pacific Drina Yue.
The study added that economic forecasts for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are much better that those for the Middle East North Africa region as a whole, and in fact have been positive. The GCC countries comprise of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The study’s lead author Dr Ahmed Farouk Ghoneim, who is a professor of economics at Cairo University, said that real gross domestic production growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council was expected to remain strong despite short-term disturbances, from a base of 3.1 per cent to 20 per cent in 2011.
"The region’s countries have limited exposure to the international financial crisis," said Dr Ghoneim, adding, "In relative terms, the financial crisis and oil and food price increases have had only mild effects on Middle East North Africa economies, owing to their limited integration into the world economy."
"However, Gulf countries did face modest inflationary pressures from increased social spending," he said, "Within the Middle East North Africa region, labour markets are facing different types of problems, but migration and remittance constitute a common cure for high unemployment in some countries of the region and the need for workers to sustain growth in others."