The new range of products includes two savings accounts and three term deposit accounts, available at over 50 Barclays branches in and around London, and the bank plans to roll out the offerings at a further 70 UK branches during the summer of 2007.
Arvinder Bharath, global head of non-resident Indian (NRI) banking at Barclays, said: There are over one million non-resident Indians in the UK. Many with friends and family back in India want to share their earnings with them and continue to provide financial support. Thanks to our extensive branch network capability and our international expertise, we are able to provide services that meet their needs for effective, convenient and cost-effective banking.
The non-resident external (NRE) savings account allows customers to maintain funds in India for basic rupees transactions, while the non-resident ordinary (NRO) savings account enables customers to manage their rupees income in India. Both come with a mandate facility to allow designated individuals in India to manage the account on behalf of the holder, free ATM cards for both the account and the mandate holder, free check books, and pay orders from India. The interest on both saving accounts is 3.5% and will be paid half yearly.
The bank’s NRE and NRO term deposits can be opened with a minimum of INR50,000 and offer an interest of up to 5.45%. There will be no penalties for premature withdrawal.
In addition, the foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) term deposit allows NRI customers to earn interest of up to 5.57% on foreign currency savings in euros, British pounds and US dollars, without needing to convert the funds into rupees.
