UAE: Residents can soon remit through mobile apps from multiple bank accounts

Expats in the UAE will soon be able to remit money through mobile apps from multiple bank accounts with the introduction of the Internal Payment Platform.

Adeeb Ahamed, vice-chairman of Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (Ferg), which comprises companies engaged in the business of money exchange and remittances, said the exchange houses are looking forward to an internal payment system – Instant Payment Platform(IPP), which will enable instant transfer of funds from multiple banks accounts through a single app.

While speaking on the sidelines of the Techno Meet 23, he said internal payment is currently not in place, which allows exchange houses to withdraw money from a customer from multiple bank accounts or wallets.

“This internal payment system by the Central Bank will connect exchange houses to the payment system. Hence, they could request and withdraw funds, depending on the customer's choice. Currently, it is a unilateral connection, so the customers will have to go to each bank website to transfer funds,” said Ahamed, who is also managing director of LuLu Financial Holdings (LFH), which operates LuLu Exchange.

With a large population of expatriates living in the UAE, billions of dirhams are remitted every month by expat workers to their families mainly to Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Currently, around 11 per cent of the total remittances go through digital channels.

“The IPP is expected to be live by September. Once that comes in, the internal payment ecosystem will get more robust,” he said, adding that most of the countries in the region already have this system in place.

Imad Ul Malik, CEO, Sharaf Exchange, said IPP will provide a seamless experience for customers where all the bank accounts will be connected. “Now, you log into a bank to pull money from there. With IPP, you will just add a bank account number and the money will be automatically pulled,” he added.

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