HDFC Bank opens representative office in Abu Dhabi

New Delhi: HDFC Bank, the second-largest private sector bank in India, opened its first representative office in Abu Dhabi, to provide services to the large number of non-resident Indians based in the UAE. Located on Salaam Street, this is the bank's second representative office in the UAE with the first in Dubai. HDFC Bank also operates a Wholesale Offshore Branch in Bahrain that offers corporate, trade finance and advisory facilities to both corporates and ultra high-net worth individuals.

The new representative office will facilitate opening of NRE accounts in India, and offer remittance services, fixed deposits and other related banking services for India accounts to NRIs based in Abu Dhabi. To cater to non-resident clients, HDFC Bank also partners with exchange houses across Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries for NRI remittances.

"The UAE is an important global business centre and this initiative reflects our commitment to bring world-class banking services to the doorstep of the Indian community in the region. We will continue to expand our off-shore operations to meet the banking requirements of our valued customers," said Mr. Abhay Aima, Group Head, Equities, Private Banking, Third Party Products, NRI and International Consumer Business, HDFC Bank.

HDFC Bank partners Wells Fargo for US-India remittance service

Mumbai: HDFC Bank on Monday said it had partnered Wells Fargo for remittance services between America and India. This would allow Indians residing there to remit money to their beneficiaries’ HDFC Bank savings accounts in India. Wells Fargo has 6,000 branches in the US, while HDFC has 2,544 branches in India.

“While we are a major player in the Gulf-India remittance market, this alliance will help us consolidate in the US-India sector, which has been growing exponentially. Given our reach and the web-based nature of the service, this will allow people to send money back home in one of the safest and fastest possible ways,” said Harish Engineer, executive director at HDFC Bank.

Wells Fargo has a similar partnership with ICICI Bank in India.

HDFC Bank in 'Harvard Business Review' elite list of 10 companies

MUMBAI: HDFC Bank has been featured by 'Harvard Business Review' in a list of 10 companies globally that have grown their net income by 5 per cent every year for the 10-year period ended 2009, the private lender said today.

The list is based on a survey, 'How the growth outliers do it', which covered 2,347 organisations, all with market capitalisation of USD 1 billion.

'Harvard Business Review' is a reputed general management magazine.

"These companies have been recognised for prospering over the long-term and being more stable and innovative than their competitors," the survey report said.

"They (the selected companies) make small bets early and diversify their portfolios, are active acquirers, have processes that support speed and flexibility, build innovations into everyday operations and hold to their talent and keep their senior leadership stable," it said.

Referring to HDFC Bank, the report said the Indian lender had a history of entering into new growth markets through initiatives like the launch of international debit cards, tele-banking, mobile banking and foreign exchange services, among others.

Besides HDFC Bank, the other Indian company to be featured in the list is IT giant Infosys.

The list comprises three companies from the US, two each from India and Spain and one each from Japan, Slovenia and China.

Vodafone, HDFC Bank launch mobile banking in Rajasthan

CHOMU (RAJASTHAN): Leading telecom service provider Vodafone India and private lender HDFC Bank Saturday launched "m-paisa", a mobile banking service in Rajasthan to enable millions of unbanked Indians perform basic banking transactions on their mobile phone. "It is a great oppotunity for a country like India to improve financial inclusion through mobile banking. It is a pioneering initiative modeled on the lines of Vodafone's m-pesa product running in three different countries of Africa, offering to more than 17 million people basic financial services beyond the reach of traditional banking," said Sunil Sood, director, business operations, Vodafone India. "With our reach and ability to connect customers, we expect many million people to come into the banking fold through this service," he added. This initiative will allow Vodafone's select retailers to act as HDFC's sub-agents through which customers can deposit and withdraw cash through their mobile phone without having to go to bank branches. In Rajasthan where this national partnership has been implemented, over 2,200 retailers across 320 villages and 54 towns are operational in opening HDFC Bank mobile bank accounts with Vodafone m-paisa. "There are 6,00,000 habitations but only about 89,000 bank branches in the country, making access to banking services difficult in remote areas. We feel that Vodafone's significant distribution reach will provide customers the security of financial transaction offered by bank," said Rahul Bhagat, country head, retail liabilities, marketing and direct banking channels, HDFC Bank. The companies will expand the service pan-India in a phased manner by March-April next year and also have plans to deliver it in all the major languages gradually. Currently it is available only in English. In order to open an account, a customer will have fill in a KYC (know your customer) form and submit it to the retail outlet authorised by Vodafone and then start availing service on fulfilment of the bank's formalities by dialing *135#. Speaking about the security of the service, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor K.C. Chakrabarty, who launched the service, said: "We will be supervising HDFC Bank ... we have issued mobile banking guidelines. We want to ensure that efficient use of mobile technology takes place in financial inclusion."