Prime Bank launches real-time remittance service

Prime Bank has recently launched a state-of-the-art real-time remittance service, RemitPrime, for its subsidiaries in Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK). 

Through RemitPrime, expatriate Bangladeshis can transfer remittances in real-time to any Prime Bank account and any bKash wallet across the country. 

For all other banks, remittances will be transferred instantly as per the Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network transaction cycle. Along with the remittances, the new service ensures the payment of a 2% incentive instantly. RemitPrime also provides real-time information about the transaction to its users.  

This is the first real-time, online platform launched by a Bangladeshi bank abroad, said a press release. 

Expatriates from Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, residing in Singapore, can now send money to their respective home countries through RemitPrime services. They can do so by downloading Prime Bank App from Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store or by logging in at www.remitprime.com. 

Prime Bank plans to extend its online remittance payment services to major remittance corridors like: the United States, European Union, Gulf countries, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and so on.

Prime Bank's Acting Managing Director and CEO, Faisal Rahman, said, "Our customers maintaining accounts with Prime Bank will enjoy real-time funds transfers against their remittances from abroad. We also can make transfers to bKash Accounts in real-time with RemitPrime." 

"With this new service, our customers are enjoying the convenience of receiving remittances at their doorsteps round-the-clock. We believe these services will inspire expatriateBangladeshis to send more money through legal channels and boost the flow of remittances into the country. The remitters from other major corridors like KSA, Malaysia and other countries will also receive similar facilities soon," he added.

Highlighting the capabilities of the RemitPrime mobile application, Shams Abdullah Muhaimin, Prime Bank's Head of Transaction Banking, said, "The RemitPrime platform is built on a machine learning technology which has automated the majority of manual activities. The system can process thousands of transactions in minutes with real-time funds transfers to beneficiary accounts 24x7." 

"The mobile app version of the application is the first of its kind launched by a local bank overseas. The system can now be offered as a white-label solution to different overseas remittance service providers working in the Bangladesh corridor," he added.

Prime Bank has two remittance subsidiaries; one is in Singapore – Prime Exchange Co. Pte Ltd – which has three branches located at Desker Road, Jurong East and Joo Koon. 

The other in the UK is named PBL Exchange (UK) Ltd, which has three branches – in London, Birmingham and Oldham – and 35 agent locations well distributed throughout the country. 

This new service has already gained huge popularity among expatriates in Singapore. They are relying on the service to rapidly send money to their loved ones in Bangladesh, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.