Earlier this month, we published a pretty interesting story about Etisalat introducing a service that would permit Indian expatriates to send money home using their mobile phone.

The service was to be launched sometime this month, according to Essa al Haddad, the group chief marketing officer for Etisalat.

Well, the month is almost over, so I called Etisalat for an update. Tens of thousands of Indian expatriates were likely holding their breath in anticipation for the services launch.

What I found it that the company's mobile remittance service will be delayed for two more weeks as officials tie up loose ends and get everything ready for launch, an Etisalat spokesman told me.

So, currency exchange houses will have a short reprieve on losing in on their lucrative US$10 billion (Dh36.7bn) remittance business.

As well they should. It doesn't take a genius to realise that sending money over a mobile device is infinitely more efficient that going personally to UAE Exchange and handing over your cold, hard cash. Wouldn't it be better to just top up your mobile balance, punch in a few numbers and - voila! - instant money transfer?

Indeed, that future will be here in a couple of weeks. Watch this space for more when the mobile remittance service launches.