The senders can now access a bank’s website to register for the service and then send money to their relatives at home, instead of going to the bank. The Vietinbank eRemit allows people to send money anywhere at any time.
When the senders complete the registration process, Vietinbank will automatically send an email to inform the recipients who can use their identity cards at the bank’s branches to pick up their money.
The service is widely used in the US, Australia, Canada, Germany and France. The maximum amount that can be sent in one transfer is US$3,000 and senders can only make 10 transactions to a maximum of US$15,000 per month.
Vietinbank has worked with various foreign partners to establish channels for transferring remittances, especially in countries and territories that have a large number of overseas Vietnamese, such as Taiwan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea (RoK), the Middle East, the US and Australia. It has worked with several partners to launch new services such as the Korean Exchange Bank and LG Telecom Korea, to launch the Korean Dream phone (so remittances can be sent from the RoK via a mobile phone), and with the Wells Fargo Bank to send remittances within one day at a cost of US$8 per transaction.
Vietinbank is an official agent of Western Union, with two services – Inbound and Outbound.
Remittances transferred via Vietinbank are expected to reach US$1 billion in 2009.