Banks are wooing expatriate workers in the UAE with deals on remittances, seeking to corner the lucrative market on money transfers.
Standard Chartered announced yesterday that it would waive fees on all online remittances to India until the end of May. The bank is hoping to attract more deposits from the 1.75 million Indian expatriates in the Emirates.
"We have identified a gap in the market for value-added services on remittances for our customers," said Syed Hammad Haider, Standard Chartered's general manager for retail products and head of new business. "With this move, Standard Chartered is strengthening its position in the cross-border remittance market, which is currently dominated by the exchange houses."
India is the largest recipient of remittances in the world, and transfers going there from the UAE account for US$6.2 billion (Dh22.77bn), or 12 per cent of India's total, according to the 2011 MasterCard Worldwide Insights report.
"The flow of funds from the UAE to India is the most important corridor for the home country, representing 27 per cent of the UAE's remittances," the report said.
While waiving remittance fees could be costly, banks will attempt to maintain their profits through exchange rate differences and from interest earned in the period it takes for a transaction to be processed.
Banks have recently vied for remittance business from the UAE's large population of expatriate workers. Last week, Emirates NBD announced a tie-up with Western Union to enable account holders to make international and domestic money transfers.
However, not all banks have courted this market so assiduously. HSBC ended free international transfers for holders of Advance accounts this month, saying the service was not widely used.
Julien Faye, a partner and head of financial services at Bain and Company Middle East, said competition on fees by banks seeking to protect their market share would be "the next battlefield" for the institutions.
The remittance market in the Gulf was sufficiently large and sustainable to make it an attractive proposition for all banks, not just the exchange houses that have traditionally dominated the business.
"All the local actors have realised that it's a profitable, non-risky business, so they all want to go after it," he said.
ghunter@thenational.ae
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: M'A Yaromoon, Jesus Rosales (jockey), Khalifa Al Neydai (trainer)
5.30pm: Khor Al Baghal – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: No Riesgo Al Maury, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Khor Faridah – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Mahmouda, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AS Jezan, George Buckell, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7.30pm: Khor Laffam – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Dolman, Antonio Fresu, Bhupath Seemar
The%20Mandalorian%20season%203%20episode%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERick%20Famuyiwa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPedro%20Pascal%20and%20Katee%20Sackhoff%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
