UAE Exchange India to focus on expanding business

Kochi, June 18, 2015: UAE Exchange India, one of the leading financial services firm is hoping to get a small banking license and is working on expansion plans for current fiscal.

Earlier, it had focused the entire business on remittances and foreign exchange services. It is now expanding the reach to focus on small-size loans, to target financial inclusion.

Mr. V George Antony, Managing Director of UAE Exchange India said, “UAE Exchange India decided that financial inclusion is an important parameter which was missing in our offerings and it was the only parameter why we failed to receive a banking license last time. We have started offering small-sized personal loans, two-wheeler loans and gold loans. We have moved into the domestic loan business and are very focused on it. We realised that if you really want to be in the financial sector, you have to be in the credit business. The average amount of loans that we are offering is Rs 50,000 and there is a lot of demand for it. As of now, our total loan book size, including gold loans, is around Rs 500 crore.”

UAE Exchange India plan is to double the personal loan book size year on year. Before starting the loan vertical, the revenue mix was 50% from the foreign exchange business, 30% from money transfer and 20% from the travel and tour business. With the new focus on loan disbursement, it contributes to about 38 % of total revenue. Forex is 38% and the money transfer business has come down to 15%. Travel contributes only 9%.

To strengthen the financial inclusion drive, apart from offering loans, the company is looking at getting into the e-wallet space and plan to announce the roll out very soon. They have also recently, rolled out e-KYC, reducing time and cost for the new accounts.

UAE Exchange India is celebrating customer loyalty month till June 30, 2015. As per this contest, any customer who avails the services from any of the branches in India and does any transaction will be eligible for the lucky draw every day for iPhone 6 and the final draw for mega prize.

Currently, UAE Exchange has a network of 400 branches across India and plans to add over 50 branches every year.  In 2014-15, it had Rs 30 crore in net profit. It is aiming at growth rate of 20-25% for the next fiscal.