KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 18): Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) expects its online remittance business to grow at a faster rate of 40 per cent in 2015, from 30 per cent over the last few years, with the launch of a new service today called 'M2U Visa Direct'.

Speaking to the media at the launch of the new remittance service, Head of Community Financial Services Malaysia Hamirullah B Boorhan said the bank's online remittance through Maybank's M2U currently stands at RM550 million.

“Online remittance via M2U has been growing at an annual rate of 30% over the last few years and with this new service we are expecting it to rise to 40% in the next year," he said.

Hamirullah added that M2U, including bill payments, has been growing steadily with 140 million transactions which translate to 27% year-to-year growth.

In terms of value, the online service raked in RM145 billion from all the transactions year-to-date, chalking up a 37% on year growth.

M2U Visa Direct, a partnership between Maybank and Visa, allows Maybank customers to transfer funds from current or savings accounts to any Visa cardholder in over 200 countries through the internet, in near real-time.  

A transaction charge of RM10 will be waived for those using the service till Dec 2014.

Hamirullah said the new service would be a "game changer in fund transfers" because it simplifies banking transactions for the customers.

"So, whether it's to your friend somewhere who's buying something for you, or to your child who studies overseas or anyone you need to send money to, you now have a new alternative of transferring money to them in an instant.

"In whatever currency so that they can either withdraw it via an ATM or pay for a purchase using their cards," he said.