BookMyForex launches online platform; how it helps users

Gurgaon-based BookMyForex Pvt Ltd has launched a web platform which enables users to buy and sell foreign exchange online. The platform also offers foreign remittance services in India. The site currently deals in 14 foreign currencies including US dollar, euro, British pound, Australian dollar, UAE dirham, Saudi riyal, Japanese yen, Swedish krona and Thai baht, among others.

Founded in September 2011 by Sudarshan Motwani (CEO), a specialist in retail forex and private remittances, the startup has already raised Rs 1.5 crore from Tejbir Singh, former executive director of Centurion Bank of Punjab. Although the funding happened last year, it had not been disclosed till now. The amount has been utilised to set up the portal and the company's office, Motwani told Techcircle.in. Prior to starting BookMyForex, Motwani had worked with companies such as HDFC and ING Vysya Bank.

The portal offers a full suite of forex services including foreign currency wire transfer, among others, and its product offerings span currency notes, prepaid travel cards, traveller's cheques and foreign currency demand drafts. In brief, it helps you when you need to buy forex or want to send money abroad. You can also exchange foreign currency into Indian rupee (INR) here in India. With BookMyForex.com, one can book transactions 24x7 and the portal offers one standard rate for each currency/product across the country. You can also book your transaction at live and real-time market rates shown on the portal. Customers can even freeze the currency exchange rates for as many as three working days. Moreover, you can choose to pay nothing online while doing a transaction. "Instead, you can visit an Axis Bank/BookMyForex branch and make the payment there," said Motwani.

BookMyForex has partnered with Axis Bank to offer competitive rates to customers. It also offers doorstep delivery facility for select locations. The company charges a certain commission from a customer, depending on the kind of transaction and the amount. And it also pays a certain percentage of that commission to the bank. If you want the money delivered to your doorstep, the firm provides that as well, for a fee. If the sum amounts to Rs 25,000-Rs 74,999, it will charge Rs 100. The delivery is free for any amount exceeding Rs 75,000. As of now, the company's staff members do the doorstep delivery.

But does it work? "The user needs to complete the booking online. We will send a confirmation mail that contains a unique order reference number. Next, he/she must get the documents ready and pay for forex and/or remittance products. Finally, you can collect it from the participating Axis Bank/BookMyForex branch or request for doorstep delivery," explained Motwani.

The portal does around 450 transactions a month, he claimed.

At present, BookMyForex.com offers money exchange services in Delhi-NCR through its own facilities and also through its network of participating Axis Bank branches. However, Bangalore expansion is on the cards. "We are looking for Rs 5-6 crore in VC funding. As soon as we get it, we will start expanding our operations to other parts of the country and our initial focus will be Bangalore," concluded Motwani.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)