Remit Service
The Laxmi Bank has launched its internet based online remittance service branded as “Laxmi Bank – eXpress Money Transfer” (eMT) to facilitate transfer of money from abroad and between various points within Nepal .
According to a statement by the bank, the eMT has been developed in-house and is in line with the Bank’s technologically driven business model. Beneficiaries of remittances made through eMT can avail money within minutes of the transfer having been effected at the remitter’s end.
Remittances, both international and domestic, have been a prime focus area for the Bank. In relation to this, Laxmi Bank was the first Bank in South Asia to adopt SWIFTNet, the advanced version of the SWIFT for its international remittance business. On the domestic front, Laxmi Bank powered by flexcube, the world’s number one selling core banking system, has all of its branches online and accessible to each other in what is known as the any branch banking system.
Laxmi Bank eMT has been designed especially to facilitate remittances for the “unbanked” or beneficiaries who do not have bank accounts - either because they do not fulfill a Bank’s criteria for opening an account or do not have physical access to a Bank branch. eMT is operated through the internet and funds are collected and paid out by appointed agents of Laxmi Bank.
Sanjeev Joshi, Manager – Branches and Global Network at Laxmi Bank says that Laxmi Bank eMT already has a network of about 100 agents across Nepal , many of which are financial institutions, to facilitate the money transfer process. The Bank plans to increase the number of agents on need basis to cover the length and breadth of the country.
Amid the crucial significance of the remittance in holding the national economy together, services launched by the Laxmi Bank will increase the trend of sending remittances through safe, secure and official banking channels rather than depending on informal and risky hundi or middlemen process. The statistics from Nepal Rastra Bank reveals that the Nepali economy in 2004/05 earned over USD 922 million in remittance from overseas workers-accounting to 12.4 percent of national GDP.
Laxmi Bank eMT will first be used in Malaysia where Laxmi Bank has tied up with Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company with an established track record in the communications sector in Malaysia and other parts of the world. Merchantrade is already catering to Nepali workers in Malaysia with its communication business.
Suman Joshi, CEO of Laxmi Bank expresses confidence that the resultant synergy of this tie up between Laxmi Bank and Merchantrade will go a long way in setting standards for the remittance business as a whole for Nepal .
“We chose Malaysia to launch Laxmi Bank eMT as Malaysia has become a key destination for Nepali job aspirants where it is believed that around 250 thousand workers are currently workin,” he said. Latest statistics show that remittance from Malaysia accounts for 20% of total remittance received by Nepal from abroad. It is believed that around 40% of remittance from Malaysia is still routed through informal channels (“hundi”).
Established in April 2002, Laxmi Bank was recently been awarded with the prestigious “Best Presented Accounts” for the second year running by the Institution of Chartered Accountants of Nepal. The Bank’s balance sheet size as of January 2007 is NPR 6.5 billion. Non performing loans comprise 0.54% of total portfolio, that is indicative of the measured growth and sound risk management practice in the Bank, states the bank’s statement.
