Tag: Asia

Western Union Launches 50,000th Agent Location in India

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

The Western Union Company announced the opening of its 50,000th Agent location in India at the State Bank of India branch in Gurgaon, Haryana. To mark the occasion, Hikmet Ersek, EVP and MD, Western Union Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia (EMEASA), joined Gautam Kanjilal, Chief General Manager (Delhi), State Bank of India, for a special inauguration ceremony.

Western Union, together with its affiliates, Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, is a leading provider of global money-transfer services. Consumer demand for Western Union services has grown due to a rise in long-term global migration trends, which have resulted in increasing cross-border remittances. India is one of the world’s largest receivers of remittances with more than 26.9 USD billion remitted into India in 2006-2007, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

“India offers immense growth potential in the money-transfer business, and with the launch of the 50,000th location we re-emphasize our commitment to our customers in the country,” Hikmet Ersek said. “Money transfer is a very unique way of participating in the growth and development of a nation, especially in India where Indian Diaspora income is regularly channeled back into the country. Together with our Agents we aim to contribute to the development of the country by delivering fast and reliable money-transfer services to our customers. ”

Gautam Kanjilal, Chief General Manager (Delhi), SBI, said, “We highly value our relationship with Western Union and look forward to delivering even better services to our customers by working closely together.”

Speaking at the inauguration event, Anil Kapur, MD-South Asia, Western Union Services India Private Limited, said: “Western Union is expanding its services in India by increasing our reach as well as adding value to our service offerings. In November 2007, we announced a pilot Mobile Money Transfer Project in association with Bharti Airtel.”

Western Union has 50,000 Agent locations in India spanning over 5,000 cities, towns and villages. This includes more than 8,500 post offices and more than 14,000 branches of leading banks.

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India Post and Emirates Post launch 'International Express Money Order' through postal network

Posted by | Jan 6, 2008 | |

Mr. I.M.G. Khan, Director General of India Post and Mr. Ibrahim Karam Ali Bin Karam, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Post, recently signed an agreement in Dubai, putting in place a system that will allow UAE residents to transfer money speedily to any part of India through India’s postal network, the largest in the world.

Customers sending money to India through Emirates Post offices will have two options. They can either have the money delivered to the addressee’s residence, or ask the addressee to collect the money from any authorized post office in India. On the other hand, Money Orders sent from India through India Post will be payable at post offices in the UAE.

The agreement stipulates that a single Money Order issued by Emirates Post for payment in India shall not exceed USD 2,500 or its equivalent. It also lays down that only 12 Money Orders addressed to one beneficiary will be allowed in a calendar year. Amounts of less than 50,000 Indian Rupees will be paid in cash, and those exceeding 50,000 Indian Rupees will be payable by cheque.

In India, the electronic Money Orders payable at post office counters will be delivered the same day at main post offices. In the case of Money Orders payable at addresses destination, the delivery will be within two days through the IFS network. Outside the IS network, the delivery will take place within five days.

If the money is sent from India to the UAE, the amount can be collected the same day at Emirates Post offices.

The IFS-based International Express Money Order is a reliable, adaptable and easy-to-use tool and can be installed in the remotest areas of the world. The UPU anticipates that financial services could generate up to 50 per cent of a country’s postal revenue, and by promoting IFS, the dominance of big players could be reduced, thus offering customers, especially migrant workers, a cost-effective system of money transfer.

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Commercialising postal delivery of mail and cargo

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

The Indian Postal Department, Tamil Nadu, is seriously exploring the commercial and technical viability of starting airport-to-airport mail and cargo transport via road to address the international mail delivery across India.

According to Indira Krishnakumar, Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu, the idea was to connect airports and take care of collection, delivery of mail and cargo between airports.

The Postal Department already has a logistic post service connecting several cities with Chennai.

“We have many surface logistic post services, which operate on a daily basis, like Chennai-Bangalore, Chennai- Madurai and Chennai-Coimbatore. In 2006, we earned a revenue of more than Rs 52 lakh through this service and earned Rs 72 lakh till this November,” said T Murthy, Post Master General, Business Development and Marketing.

The computerisation works of post offices across Tamil Nadu are also progressing.

“We have already computerised all head post offices in the State in the first phase. The second phase, covering computerisation of all sub-post offices, will be completed in another two years. The sub-post offices are classified into three categories and the computerisation works of category A have been finished,” K Balasubramaniam, Director, Technology, India Post, said. 1 USD = 39.4138 INR

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Deutsche Post's DHL buys Singapore facility for 38 million Singapore dollars (USD 26.49 million)

Posted by | Jan 2, 2008 | |

DHL said it has bought a cargo transshipment facility in Singapore from Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) for 38 million Singapore dollars.

The facility has been operating under lease from SATS since 2001.

The facility, which sits on an 18,000 square meter site, is capable of processing 5,300 shipments per hour at its peak and is expected to increase its cargo handling capacity to more than 11,000 shipments per hour by 2011.

“Our infrastructure in Singapore is an important link in our network of express hubs in Asia Pacific, and owning the building allows for future expansion as trade flows increase,” said Stephen Fenwick, DHL Express’ senior vice president for operations in Asia Pacific.

DHL’s hubs in Asia are in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Incheon, Shanghai and Sydney.

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Shanghai airports report double-digit rise in passenger handling business

Posted by | Jan 2, 2008 | |

Shanghai’s two airports handled a record 51.57 million passengers last year, an 11.8 percent increase over 2006.

The Pudong International and Hongqiao airports offered services to 440,809 planes in total in 2007, up 7.61 percent. Pudong handled 58 percent, or 253,671 takeoffs and landings, while Hongqiao accommodated 42 percent, or 187,138 takeoffs and landings, according to a Shanghai Airport Authority source.

Pudong was the only airport in the world to provide a dual presence for courier companies UPS and DHL. It ranked fifth globally for cargo and mail handling volume in the first three quarters of 2007, said the source.

Currently, 71 domestic and overseas air companies have been operating regular air routes to Shanghai, linking the Chinese financial and commercial hub with 179 cities worldwide.

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