MUMBAI, India—ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, has announced the launch of a service that enables non-resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to a beneficiary in India using social media such as WhatsApp in addition to e-mail.
Called “Social Pay,” the first-of-its-kind service by any Indian bank is available on Money2India (M2I), the bank’s app for remittances. This new facility will enable NRIs to send money conveniently to their friends and family, Finextra reported.
To transfer money, users generate a secure link from the M2I app and share it with the beneficiary on their social media profile or email for adding personal bank details. This link, which is valid for 24 hours is secured with a four-digit code set by the senders, which they share with the beneficiary. The beneficiary then validates the passcode before adding the bank details. The M2I user then re-verifies and confirms the payment details on the app to complete the transaction in a safe and secure manner, Finextra explained.
ICICI Bank is the first in India and among few globally to launch a service that allows cross-border remittances over social media, Finextra said.
“ICICI Bank is one of the leading players in the Indian remittance market. With increasing number of people connected on social media globally, Social Pay embraces the medium as a way to simplify money transfers, adding to customer convenience,” Vijay Chandok, executive director, ICICI Bank, stated in the Finextra report. “Users of our Money2India remittance app can now send money to their friends and family on special occasions like birthdays and festivals by leveraging social media, which they are regularly using.”
The communication between Money2India app and social media platforms is carried out using the bank’s secured channels. All transactions on the platform have two-factor authentication between the bank and the M2I user, Finextra noted.
Now You BC Me, Now You Don’t: 7 CUs Seek to Merge into One
NELSON, B.C.–Seven credit unions in British Columbia’s Southern Interior region are moving forward with plans for a regional merger to create one credit union.
The seven credit unions — Columbia Valley Credit Union, Creston & District Credit Union, East Kootenay Community Credit Union, Grand Forks Credit Union, Heritage Credit Union, Kootenay Savings Credit Union and Nelson & District Credit Union — issued a statement saying they have spent the winter in discussions related to the design and potential of a new, united credit union.
“The project is a massive undertaking and has involved more than 60 people including a 21-person steering committee and various management and staff working groups,” the credit unions said in a statement. “An amalgamation between seven credit unions has never before taken place in Canada.”
Now Working Together
The seven credit unions said they are now working together to complete the business case for the combination. “Once the business case is finalized, it will be reviewed for approval by the boards of directors for each of the seven credit unions,” the statement said, and if approved, will then be put before the regulator, the Financial Institutions Commission of BC (FICOM), for its approval.
According to the statement, each partnering credit union will begin a formal consultation process with their members to provide an opportunity to learn more about the proposed new credit union. That, in turn, will then go to a vote of the members. Two-thirds of the members of each credit union will need to approve the deal for it to proceed. The process is expected to take the rest of 2018 to complete.
The credit unions cited the changes in financial services for the need to consider a merger in order to become larger.
The final stage of approval will be a vote by members of each participating credit union to approve a resolution recommended to them by their Board of Directors. It is expected that this entire process will continue through 2018.
The reason for the amalgamation is partly due to the rapid evolution of the financial services industry.