Money Transfer To India

Non resident Indians wanting to do a money transfer to India have three broad options to choose from:

1. Bank wire transfer fees– This requires you to know the recipient’s bank’s swift code and branch code and his account number and name .Wire transfer is the process of using an electronic medium to transfer money from one account to another. It can also be utilized at many online casino sites to withdraw winnings. It can be picked up absolutely anywhere that Western Union has an office. It is a transaction that you initiate through your bank. Wire transfer is popular alternate payment method that is an available deposit and withdrawal option a large number of casinos.The disadvantage is the time it takes to remit. At present, it takes anywhere from 7 days to 60 days time to credit the account of the recipient in India.

2. Online transfer –If speed of transfer is important, online transfer is the best option for you. The remittance takes place immediately but it takes around 7 to 10 days time to reach the account of the recipient. The time required reduces to 3-4 days from the second transfer to the same account. The disadvantage however is that the recipient needs to have an online transfer account and he should be versed with the operational aspects of that account. Further online transfer supports remittance to very selective bank accounts (around 15 major banks at present). The fees charged is higher than what is applicable to bank wire transfer fees but way lower than that charged by private money transfer companies. Some of the prominent online transfer companies include pay pal, cliks2india.com, Wells Fargo Services, Xoom Services, Barclays Online Money Transfer and a few others. Most of these online companies also offer the choice of nation wide demand draft delivery at the recipients address.

3. Private money transfer cos. – There are three private companies Western Union, Money Gram and Remit2india that are allowed by Reserve bank of India to accept remittances from abroad. The benefit of this mode of payment is that neither the sender nor the recipient needs to have bank accounts to receive cash. Most of these agencies offer door to door money acceptance. The sender at the time of sending money has to provide details of the unique identity card of the remittance. The recipient can claim the funds from any of their authorized centers like post offices, banks and petrol pumps by showing the same identity card that was mentioned by the remitter at the time of transfer. The recipient can claim the money within a few minutes of remittance at any of the centers. The maximum amount that can be remitted per transaction is limited to USD 5000 subject to a maximum of 12 transactions per year.

Besides these three methods there are a few other non traditional methods of sending cash to india like issuance of gift cards, gift cheque and others. You can also check these out but they are generally found to be more expensive than the normal methods of remittance.

When it comes to money transfer to india you should also look at the credibility of the remitting company besides assessing the fees and the delivery time. There are many fly-by night operators ready to dupe gullible customers. Always remit money through well established names.

You also need to consider the exchange rate when doing a money transfer to india. Don’t be surprised to find wide differences in quotations from different institutions at any given time. This is because most of the remitting agencies try to earn some extra buck through differential rates in exchange at the time of booking. A good practice would be to check the exchange rates from multiple sources. You will be surprised at the amount of savings this small exercise can do for you.

Caveat – You might come across some scrupulous people who would offer to transfer money to india really fast and hassle free without any recorded formalities. Beware as many times, people end up loosing their hard earned money in these transactions. In case of getting caught it also attracts criminal offence clauses.

For more detailed advice on money transfer to india please see our different ways to transfer money to India page