By Sanaullah Ataullah
DOHA: Q-Post, Qatar’s Postal Services Company, has launched electronic money transfer service from Qatar to Bangladesh at QR13 per remittance.
Initially, the services are available at Q-Post head office, which is General Post Office, and its three branches in Al Khor, Industrial Area and Messaieed.
Services will gradually be made available at other branches. Working hours of Q-Post and its branches are from 7am to 9pm.
Beneficiaries can receive money within two hours from any post office in Bangladesh. So far, 2,750 post offices in Bangladesh have been designated for the purpose.
Plans are afoot to make services available at 10,000 post offices across Bangladesh.
Q-Post yesterday signed an agreement with its Bangladeshi counterpart, Bangladesh Post, to launch the initiative.
Faleh Al Naemi, Board Chairman and Managing Director, Q-Post, and Probal Chandra Saha, Director-General, Bangladesh Post, inked the deal.
The signing ceremony was attended by Bangladesh Ambassador Ashud Ahmad, Bangladesh Post delegation and senior Q-Post officials.
People living in remote areas in Bangladesh have no remittance services but have easy access to postal services, said an official from Bangladesh Post. They can now benefit from the new money transfer services because post offices are almost everywhere in Bangladesh, the official added.
Postal services are the largest network worldwide, said Al Naemi. Postal money transfer services will create an opportunity for expatriates in Qatar to transfer money to their home countries quickly and safely, he added.
Remittance charges are affordable since the purpose is to provide quality service and not to make profits, said Al Naemi. Q-Post has signed similar agreements with Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania.
“We are gearing up to sign agreements with more countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, to provide money transfer services,” said Al Naemi. Bangladesh is the first destination in South Asia where “we have launched the service”, said a Q-Post official.
The Peninsula
