CBA to ‘accelerate growth across Australia–India corridor’

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and ICICI Bank have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the hopes of developing a relationship that supports Australians and Indians living across borders.

According to CBA, the MoU will see a collaboration that aims to:

• Facilitate introductions of corporate and business customers who are interested in investing or setting up businesses in the other bank’s home country.
• Facilitate trade between corporate and business customers in Australia and India by supporting them with banking services and providing guidance in relation to cross-border trade opportunities.
• Assist customers migrating to Australia and India with banking services.
• Support cross-border payments by collaborating on customer-centric solutions.

CBA group executive of business banking Mike Vacy-Lyle signed the MoU, along with ICICI Bank’s executive director, Rakesh Jha.

“The business environment presents significant opportunities for both Australian and Indian businesses and we are excited to partner with ICICI Bank to better facilitate trade and advance prosperity in both countries,” Vacy-Lyle said.

“We understand that doing business in another country can present challenges as well as opportunities for businesses. That is why we are delighted to be working with ICICI Bank to give our business customers dedicated access to a leading banking partner across the corridor.”

Australia and India have a long history of cooperation. The Department of Home Affairs revealed in a 2022 census that 753,520 Indian-born people were living in Australia, more than twice the number (355,380) at 30 June 2012.

Australia is home to the second largest migrant community of Indians after the United Kingdom, equivalent to 9.8 per cent of Australia’s overseas-born population and 2.9 per cent of Australia’s total population.

Jha said he is excited about the partnership with CBA in promoting cross-nation cooperation: “We are delighted to enter in a partnership with Commonwealth Bank of Australia. India has emerged as a preferred destination for foreign investments, across manufacturing, global capability centres and capital markets.

“Australia and India have strong bilateral relations and there are several opportunities across our respective ecosystems, which this partnership seeks to harness. We are confident that ICICI Bank, with its 360-degree customer-centric approach, extensive franchise and technology-enabled offerings is well placed to support CBA in serving the holistic banking requirements of its customers in India.”

In preparation for the agreement, CBA is hosting workshops with customers in Sydney and Brisbane this week, where ICICI Bank has been invited to join.

Jack Campbell is the editor of Broker Daily. After graduating from the University of Wollongong in 2022, Jack began his journalistic career working on Broker Daily’s sister brand, HR Leader. In August 2023 he was made the news editor and worked alongside some talented journalists writing articles and recording podcasts.

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