NRI Banking and Insurance Schemes Launched Overseas

A bouquet of banking and insurance schemes awaits non-resident Indians from Indian and foreign finance companies. This includes insurance schemes from ICICI Prudential and NRI banking products from Barclays of the UK.

India’s leading insurance company, ICICI Prudential, is extending its service to NRIs in the UAE, with a representative office in Dubai.

Indian financial institutions are tapping the investment potential of the
overseas Indian – a trend started by ICICI Bank and UTI Bank earlier this
year following a license from the Dubai International Financial Centre. The
banks have identified the high net worth NRIs with a personal income of USD
1 million in the Gulf.

ICICI Prudential will offer insurance products related to health, education
and retirement. The representative office will restrict itself to promotional
activities only in the UAE, and will not engage in any selling.
On the other hand, Barclays is the first UK-based bank to launch schemes
for the non-resident Indian population.

NRI savings and NRI term deposit
accounts are being made available to the one million Indians in the UK
through its 50 branches, which will expand to 70 more branches eventually.

The NRE and NRO accounts held in any of the branches of Barclays in the
UK will be accompanied with a mandate facility for the account to be operated
on from India by the account holder’s nominee. Interest offered on the accounts will be paid every half-year at a rate of 3.5%.

NRO and NRE Term deposits will earn interest upto 5.45%, and a premature
closure of the account would not invite a penalty. FCNR accounts would be
paid 5.57% on their foreign currency holdings in the bank.

The NRE and FCNR accounts are fully repatriable and not subject to tax in India, though
NRO savings and term deposits are taxable in India.