United Arab Emirates-based Mashreq Bank has signed a strategic partnership with Bank AL Habib Pakistan. The partnership will see Mashreq offer free remittance transfers from the UAE to Pakistan.
The partnership will support QuickRemit, a cross-border payment product from Mashreq. Users of the application will not be charged remittance fees when sending money to Pakistan.
Figures from Global Media Insight highlight the extent to which Pakistani individuals are present in the UAE. The UAE has the second-largest Pakistani expatriate community in the world. The UAE is also the second largest source of remittance to Pakistan.
Data from the State Bank of Pakistan also highlights the extent to which Pakistanis transfer money from the UAE. It was found that $474.3million was sent in remittance payments from the UAE to Pakistan in September 2022 alone.
The findings show that the newest partnership between Mashreq and Bank Al Habib could support a large population within Pakistan.
Supporting expatriates
Kartik Taneja, head of payments at Mashreq, offered his thoughts on the partnership. He said: “Remittance payments play a vital role for the huge Pakistani diaspora living and working in the UAE as they send essential funds back home. We are delighted to partner with Bank Al Habib Pakistan to offer money transfers through our QuickRemit application, making the process as simple, seamless and secure as possible.”
Mashreq Bank recently reported a 33 per cent increase in operating profits in the first three financial quarters of 2022. The bank made a profit of AED 3.3billion, showing significant progress from 2021.
Aun Ali, group head at Business of Bank AL Habib, also commented on the benefits the partnership could bring. Ali said: “I would like to congratulate both Bank AL Habib and Mashreq Bank team on this affiliation, which will help both organizations in serving Pakistani expatriates for instant, simple and secure transaction processing. Bank AL Habib continues to play a vital role in routing remittances through official channels and feels immense pleasure to provide our services in collaboration with Mashreq.”
Bank AL Habib has a widespread branch network containing more than 1060 branches. The bank also has sub-branches in 436 cities across Pakistan, including wholesale branches in Bahrain and Malaysia. The bank also has representative offices in China, UAE, Turkey and Kenya.
