You can now transfer money from the United States to any bank account in India on an instant basis.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Nasdaq-listed Xoom Corporation have partnered to roll out instant bank deposit services to bank accounts in India.

The instant money transfer will be achieved by using the Immediate Payment Services (IMPS), a unique remittance processing platform offered by National Payment Corporation of India,

“Through this tie-up, money could be transferred instantly by a Xoom user from the US to not only bank accounts held in Punjab National Bank, but to any other bank account in India”, K.R.Kamath, Chairman & Managing Director, PNB told a press conference here.

Currently, IMPS has 63 banks (in India) as part of its ecosystem.

Xoom, a digital money transfer company, is currently focused on remittances from the United States to India on a bank-to-bank basis.

Under the latest initiative, a Xoom user in the United States can instantly transfer money to any bank account in India, thanks to the IMPS platform.

PNB and Xoom have an ongoing tie-up for money transfer for over a decade now. But till date, there was no facility of instant remittance facility to India, Kamath said.

India is the only market where Xoom does not levy any remittance fee for its users, John Kunze, President & CEO, Xoom Corporation told Business Line here.

The US-India corridor is one of the largest remittance corridors with annual remittance flow of about $ 25 billion (including the NRE/NRO account inflows)

Currently, India is the largest recipient of inward remittances in the world with an estimated annual inflow of about $ 71 billion.(The Hindu Business)