Mumbai-based IndusInd Bank has recently partnered with a unit of Western Union Company, Western Union Business Solutions, with the intention of bringing foreign exchange payment capabilities to SMEs in India.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises are essential to India’s economy,” states Raj Agrawal, President of Western Union Business Solutions. “There are nearly 30 million Indian SMEs that make a significant contribution to the country’s GDP. This arrangement will not only bring improved access to foreign exchange products for SMEs but will also increase the ease and efficiency with which they trade with their global partners.”

IndusInd Bank has also bought into two of Western Union’s biggest agents, Weizmann Forex and Paul Merchants, each intended to aid the market service throughout much of India. The resulting service is intended for launch at a number of Paul Merchants and Weizmann Forex locations across 22 cities, with each intended to provide an efficient local service to clients.

Western Union says of the foreign exchange service: “Western Union Business Solutions enables companies and organisations of all sizes to send and receive global business payments and manage foreign exchange, creating unique solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. It is a business unit of the Western Union Company, a leading nonbank provider of cross border payments, and offers services through locally licensed affiliates in over 30 countries. Supported by a network of trading offices, strategic banking relationships and a global clearing network, businesses can send cross-border payments in more than 135 currencies.”

The service will be of special interest to small business, whose coordination with international suppliers will likely be improved greatly. The benefits of the service however are many, the likes of which include: efficient payment and processing capabilities, allowing all parties to track funds; marked increase in transparency; email notifications to either party on news of the transaction being established; and a comprehensive range of currencies made available by Western Union Business Solution’s global payment infrastructure, expected to soon surpass 100 as the service grows.

Executive Vice president of IndusInd Bank, Ramesh Ganesan said: “While the larger businesses often manage to get the best deals for their cross-border payments, it has been seen that the SME segment does not always get the same level of services. We are confident that this technology offering will help us bring stronger service to support Indian SMEs.”