A photo after the media interaction.
By SAT News Desk
MELBOURNE, 22 March: India and Philippines are the countries which get the largest amount of remittances from Australia. Running into millions of dollars, no doubt, it’s a massively big and lucrative money transfer industry which has attracted many big and small companies. InstaReM, Singapore-headquartered, is one of them operating here since 2015 with 15,000 customers. It’s different because of its pure digital cross-border payment system operating successfully in the Australia-to-South Asia/India corridor. Its operations cover 55+ countries.
In a briefing to select South Asian media and community leaders, Vinoth Manoharan, Country Manager of InstaReM, said, “The South Asia/ India corridor is very exciting for InstaReM, and we strive to deliver the best quality experience to our Indian and other South Asian customers. This audience often tells us that convenience is important to them when conducting remittances. We have heard their message loud and clear and are pleased that our focus on customer experience and convenience has resulted in a strong 24 percent volume growth in the Australia-to-South Asia corridor, led by Australia-India traffic last year.”
“My father regularly remits money back home to South Asia and used to be hesitant about
transferring money online. After experiencing great convenience in his first digital
transaction with InstaReM, the notion of taking time to visit a physical branch or an agent
does not make sense to him anymore!”
“His situation is not unique – many of the South Asian diaspora living, working, and studying
in Australia need to conveniently send and receive money and we know how important it is
to make the process as smooth as possible,” continued Mr Manoharan.
A lively Q-A session was revealing with company officials including Vinoth, Karan and Taylor answering to issues facing customers. On a question by SAT, Karan said, people who transfer money via the outlets end up giving bigger commissions. So, he feels, customers need to be educated tro take the digital route.
Unlike other money transfer companies, InstaReM money can only be transferred overseas through their App or website. The company possessed $ 250 million transactions in 2018.
India is the second largest global remittance market for Australia, with AUD$2.74 billion
transferred from Australia to India in 2017. World Bank statistics show migrants in Australia
sent close to AUD$23.816 billion overseas in 2017.
During the briefing session, InstaReM laid out the firm’s focus on understanding and
delivering on the unique needs of the South Asian/Indian diaspora in Australia through the unique positioning of five core benefits:
1. Zero-Margins on Foreign Exchange rates
2. Low Transaction Fees
3. Absolute Transparency in Costs
4. Speed of Settlement
5. Convenience
A Finder.com.au study found 12 percent of people in Australia provide financial assistance
for relatives overseas and 32 percent have sent money abroad at least once; around half of
those as a gift and just over one third to support relatives, says an InstaReM media release.
For more information, visit https://www.instarem.com/
