A couple of weeks ago the Indian government took the bold step of demonitising the Rs.500 and Rs.1000 currency notes in a bid to root out the endemic corruption that exists in the country. This move took the country by shock with opinions divided amongst the people.
During this process, we, at iPayOn asked our retail partners, what impact this had on money transfer transactions to India from the UK… Has it remained consistent despite demonitisation? Has it grown?
The response we received by almost all our retail agents was that they had witnessed a dramatic reduction in money transfers to India. In fact, some went on to say that they had altogether stropped sending money to India. We asked why?
Delving deeper into the issue we discovered that where there is no shortage in need or demand to send money, the issue lies with the ability to safely receive monies from abroad. This is where iPayOn can help.
So, what are the issues with receiving money in India from the UK with demonitisation?
1) There is little to no liquid cash with the receiving retailers to honour the payments: traditionally money transfer operators have been heavily dependent on receiving retailers to honour the sent transaction by which the receiving retailers make commissions on fees and in some instances on FX too- but the lack of liquid cash available makes both the money transfer operator and the receiving retailer reluctant to carry out the transactions.
2) Bank transfer: Because of the liquidity crunch, many senders are happy to transfer money online via their banks, However, the question is, do friends and relatives in India have the ability to use debit or credit cards; are they web savvy enough to use online money transaction? This might change in the coming months and years but for now this is a challenge that NRI’s face.
3) With long ques at ATM’s to withdraw cash it puts people off from going to banks or retailers from withdrawing any money. For the time being at least, money transfers have therefore stopped.
iPayOn has stepped in and to some extent provided other ways to send funds across to friends and family in India. Our mobile top-up and bill payment transactions have seen an unprecedented increase by over 200%. Why?
1) smaller amounts for top-ups are easier and can be sent to multiple receivers.
2) Top-up are instantly delivered
3) Direct bill payments such as DTH are a massive convenience especially at a time when people are adapting to a new monetary system.
We, at iPayOn, love helping our customers and giving away free top-ups to India to our first 100 customers registering for our mobile app.
To register please send an email to sales@ipayon.com and one of our team members will contact you shortly. Currently this promotion is open for UK residents only, but in few weeks’, we will be launching in 2 additional countries in Europe.
To try our browser based application to send top-ups across 400 operators in 140 countries, DHL courier services, National Express, bill payments, local top-ups, entertainment and many other services just login to your iPayOn account today or register at www.ipayon.com/register.
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