Going digital is not a new fad. But with Covid-19, it would seem going digital has become the new normal.

Operating 150+ branches in the GCC region, among which over 75 are in UAE alone, LuLu International Exchange is today one of the leading remittances and payments player in the Middle East. And with the month-ending week coming up, the company is seeing an uptick in activity on its mobile platform, LuLu Money, as more and more people choose to remit money digitally. 

 “We have been investing in digital solutions for several years now as we consider technology a means to reduce the gap between our service offering and our customers’ needs”, said Mr. Adeeb Ahamed, MD of LuLu Financial Holdings. 

“The recent restrictions on outdoor movement has led to an increased activity on the platform, especially in countries like UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. Our platform is easy-to-use and secure, and as this is the month-ending week, we expect more of our existing customers to use our digital offering”, he added. 

The mobile app already has over 350,000 downloads, registering a whopping 15,000 new downloads in the last ten days alone.

Even as the company aggressively encourages its existing customers to use the mobile app, new customers who wish to use the app need to provide their KYC details in the physical branches while they are still open, as a first step. As of Thursday afternoon, the company has kept several of its physical branches in UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain open, updating their operational status’ in line with the directives of the respective governments.

UAE and the surrounding GCC region, as well as the APAC region are home to several millions of expats, and in countries like India, Bangladesh and Philippines, remittances form a big part of the annual country income. As per official data, India topped the list of countries in remittances for the year 2018, with $79 bn worth of inflows.