In an endeavor to tap into potential clients in rural India, Western Union (WU), a company based in the US providing financial and communication services worldwide, has partnered with Bandhan, a non-banking microfinance institution in India with 2.8 million clients, to provide money transfer services to Bandhan’s microloan borrowers. Bandhan reportedly hopes to activate 800 locations by the end of this year through collaboration with WU’s main money exchange agency in India, Weizmann Forex (WF). According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), of the USD 52 billion that Indians received in remittances in the past fiscal year, 38 percent came from North America, 27 percent from the Gulf States and 18 percent from Europe [1]. Remittances account for 4.2 percent of India’s gross domestic product [2].
About Bandhan: Bandhan is a non-banking microfinance institution that was established in 2001 and began microfinance operations in 2002. It reports serving 2.3 million active borrowers in 17 Indian states as of March 2010. It has a two-pronged mission to combat poverty and empower women. In addition to its microfinance activities, Bandhan also helps “the hard core poor” by providing services that target health, education and livelihood issues [3]. As of March 2010, Bandhan has total assets of USD 242 million according to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse. Bandhan’s microfinance projects are administered by Bandhan Financal Services Private Limited (BFSPL), which is registered as a non-banking financial company (NBFC) with the Reserve Bank of India.
About Western Union: Western Union (WU) is a money transfer and communication service company founded in 1851 in the United States. WU has roughly 430,000 satellite locations in 200 countries and territories around the world [4].
About Weizmann Forex: Weizmann Forex (WF) is a money changing organization in India with which Western Union collaborates to provide money transfer services in the country. WF has 113 branches in India [5].
By Diana Baide, Research Assistant
Sources and Additional Sources:
[1] Business Standard (BS): “Bandhan Microfinance to offer the Western Union Money TransferSM Service” August 25, 2010 http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bandhan-microfinance-to-offerwestern-union-money-transfersm-service/405759/
[2] Ibid
[3] Bandhan: Organisational Background http://www.bandhanmf.com/background.aspx
[4] MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Western Union: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Western+Union
[5] MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Weizmann Forex: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Weizmann+Forex
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Bandhan: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Bandhan+Microfinance
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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