Buoyed by the robust performance of its remittances business, ICICI Bank plans to launch a slew of innovative products in this segment before the end of this fiscal. | |
| The bank also plans to scale up its presence in the Gulf besides exploring alliance possibilities with overseas banks to boost this business, especially in the emerging markets. |
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| "We have a few innovatively-structured products tailor-made for the remittances market in the pipeline slated for launch before March 2007," Manish Misra, Head, Remittances, ICICI Bank, said here. |
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| While not revealing the finer details about the proposed products, Misra said the products will be market-specific and possess a plethora of innovative features which will make the modes of disbursing and accepting funds very easy. |
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| "The new products will focus on end-beneficiaries who do not have an account with us as also on the hitherto unbanked segments," he said. |
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| ICICI Bank currently enjoys an over 20 per cent marketshare in the $24 billion Indian remittances market. |
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| On alliances, Misra said that ICICI Bank was in talks with a few foreign banks. "A few more alliances are in the pipeline," he said, adding that the bank already has six such tie-ups in place. |
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| Expressing satisfaction at the way ICICI Bank's remittances business has shaped up so far, Misra said "our growth in the last few years has outpaced that of the industry's." |
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| The remittances market has expanded robustly at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 15-to-20 per cent in the last three years and industry analysts expect the momentum to continue over the next three years as well. |
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| "A million Indians go overseas annually, adding to the already existing huge stock of NRIs and PIOs. This constitutes a rapidly expanding market which is driven largely by young people, the majority of whom are below 35 years of age," he said. |
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| Western economies are ageing and to sustain their growth, they need not only skilled personnel but also an economically-productive work-force which is sourced from countries like India. "This constitutes a huge opportunity for us going forward," Misra said. |
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