I want to send money to India: Which BANK shall I use ? Please recommend.

I send money to India very often but its almost everytime that the exchanage rate used to convert dollar to rupee in India is less than the exchange rate posted on the day of transfer. And almost everytime it takes 4-5 business days eventhough the dollars have been debited from my account on day 1.

Based on my personal experience with different banks, I find Bank of India as the best option. You can always negotiate with them if the amount is on the higher side.

For general information to all:

All banks offer higher rates (than board rates) after a certain limit. The limit varies from bank to bank and country to country. This higher rate is usually termed as staff rate or preferential rates.

If the amount is much higher than the limit than you can have a permanent agreement with bank for a fix IBR - X paisa formula for any remittance. For HDFC and HSBC it is used by me but not sure about the other banks.

Any bank is better than ICICI

Hello Navin. Here is a website that will be useful for your needs - http://www.satworldwide.co.uk/personal/regular_currency_payments/. As a Director of UK Work Study we work with Sat Worldwide i.e. use the services to assist in transfer funds for our clients globally. I would suggest you look at the testimonials of clients and talk to them before you make your decision. Banks are typically expensive as they charge twice in most cases (1) a fixed fee and (2) the exchange spread PLUS it takes days before it gets to the beneficiary.

Good luck.

I have tried remit2india and I am happy with it. Its not a bank though and has all the deficiencies you mentioned. But I believe it gives a very good exchange rate.

http://click2remit.com/home/index.html is a new service launch by Kotak. There rates are better than remit2india but I haven’t tried them yet.

For me Axis bank has been really smooth and has given me better rates. I think SBI and Axis bank both offer good rates (according to the comparison of rates among most important Indian banks carried out by about 2 years ago). However, remitting in SBI had given me lot of problems in past.

I have used remit2india successfully for many years. I can either send the money (locally in India as a draft for Corporation bank where my parents have account) or direct deposit to their Axis bank accounts.

I find Moneygram the best option. It is conveniently located in almost all Canada Post offices and in India most banks are affiliated with them. So it is convenient to receive the money. Best, you can check the exchange rates online. More info can be found at https://www.moneygram.com/MGI/EN/CA/Market/Market.htm?CC=CA&LC=EN

If US is your base the Wells fargo ICICI route would be a faster one. It is a customer intiated PUSH and would not warrant the three day cooling period as in ACH

Hey if you are based out of the US pl check the wells fargo ICICI Bank arrangement. The money reaches in India in lesser time than what you have stated above. Essentially it is a Customer initiated transaction and hence the reduction in the time lag

Okay....now I am getting into the comfort zone.

But what I have also noticed that the exchange rate on the day of the transfer is not what I ever got when the money reached India. So, as my next question, does any of the institutions recommended above give the same rate (as on the day of transfer and on the day of receipt in India)?

(I AM US BASED)

I have done transfers through SBI and BOI in Singapore. But, now I use BOI due to better rates. The exchange rate is agreed before the remittance and the exact equivalent amount is received in my Indian account on the next business day by TT. Probably our methods are different. You may be doing it online, whereas I do it by visiting the bank branch. If the amount is large, I give them cheque. In this case, exchange rate for the day cheque is cleared, is given which normally is not very much different from the day of visit. BOI charges only S$5 per transaction and they work on non-office hours.

If you are registered with a remittance portal, the exchange rate prevalent on the end of 3 rd day(cooling period) would be applicable.. There were certain incentive schemes offered by portals, which said same day credit from the US based ACH partner bank into the account in India, but would not allow withdrawals for three days. These work flows are generally pertaining to a Portal Pull mechanism.

However, in the case of a customer intiated PUSH, since the transfer is faster, there could be a room for only small variance in exchange rates.

Use any US Bank that can instantly send your money once it is debited from your account. Wells Fargo and ICICI have a good partnership which does not charge for transactions less than $ 5,000. Under no circumstances use Remit2India. They are crooks. They will sit on your money for extended period and give you a rate which is far lower than what they tell you. If you check their record with BBB you will find that it is rated the worst possible rating one can get.

I would rather go with a Big name local bank, but be sure my assets are protected. I may get a little less money in India, but would use a guaranteed source.. I had my name Deleted from Remit2India portal. I had to force them to stop sending me emails after legal threats and writing to FCC for calling a DNC number. Use Citibank, Wells Fargo, State Bank of India.

Never Remit2India. Check the BBB site to get the views expressed by disgruntled customers

If you send your money with a reputed bank they will give you the terms and conditions. They will not keep you guessing of what you will get. Remit2India short changed me by about 30 paisa for each dollar. I had confirmed RBI rates for the day the money arrived in India. Other thing to keep in mind, never transfer money on Wednesday or Thursday. Monday is the best day. It takes a minimum of 2 days to transfer, more if you have to go through a corresponding bank like Deutche which Remit2India uses. They expolit on getting free interest on your money if you have money sittting with them on a weekend. I had thhe worst experience of my life with Remit2India.

I found that ICICI's rates are way too higher than Axis Bank. So far I see that Axis bank rates are competitive enough. Please post if you find any better ones.

In the pull mechanism(Portal Model), the money gets pulled from your account by the ACH partner Bank of the Indian Bank on the 1st Day itself and deposited into a Dollar account of the Indian Bank(It is called a Nostro Account), which the Indian Bank maintains with this ACH PArtner Bank. On the third day when the cooling period ends, based on their dealing rooms's advice of the Indian Bank, a day rate is applied and based on that the benificiary in India gets credited as appropriately calculated based on this day rate. However, I am not well informed when a third party portal provider is a part of this services, as to who would control the exchange rates.

Yes, the entities you have mentioned are push mechanism but their mode of fund transfer is Cash to Cash. I infer from your earlier mails you are looking for an account to account transfer mechanism.

Check out www.dollar2rupee.net to find competitive exchange rate info provided by different banks while remitting to India. I have had very good experience using ICICI's money2india.com. It seems to provide good rate and convenience.

Hope this helps
Ravi

Canara Bank, NRI Branch, 208 Regent Chambers, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021
Email the Chief Manager Mr. Thangaraj at cmmcity2307@canbank.co.in.
My personal experience has been of excellent service and prompt response.

What i meant was an account maintained by the Indian Bank, with its partner ACH bank, overseas This dollar account(Nostro Account is pooled with all the "Pulled money" from various other banks in the US, basis the instructions in the portal. The process is very clearly articulated in various bank based portals like sbiexpress.

I am not informed about moneydart. I was essentially referring to the other two MTSS entities mentioned by you, earlier. Also, for a push mechanism, request, please also check BOB's Rapid funds to India, where it is a well evolved model

From UK, send via SBI....they always give the better rate...and very less transaction charges....

I use ICICI Bank, but they sit always on money and remit when rate is low..:-(

SBI tells you the rate what they will be give on that day
use http://www.sbiuk.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2fPPrVQ%2ftVSE%3d&tabid=58

Yes. SBI will tell u...that u will get this much amount in india....and this will be the exchange rate...

I have very good experience with Bank of Baroda, the rates are better and the service is good as compared with Nationalise banks. It is alway better to send the money through the known bank as all the transactions get processed at NY with hub bank and then it goes to the international division in India ( In Metro cities ) then transfered to your branch or designated bank.

This is the first time someone every recommended me Bank of Baroda. I will check them out and list them as well.

Punjab National Bank In UK gives the better rate at any given time

I don't have idea about U.S. banking sense. if you use the exchange house plateform might be you will get very competative rate, as i get always in Dubai more than the bank rate.

Remit2India continues to cheat NRIs in US wit their carrot approach. Based on recent information of cases filed in uS courts. Remit2India heads up the list. A times of India organization and sister organization of Economic Times they dispute the rates quoted by Economic Times. ICI or Wells fargo are a better choice. unlss one wants to get ulcers.

I use UAEmoney transfer, the rates are comaprable with SBI. It takes 1-2 days to credit the money in my bank account. I am based in UK

Citi bank is also better.

We are, http://www.time2remit.com registered remittance business in Australia over a year now and provide best AUD to INR fixed rate, no fee. We provide all other major currency pairs as well.

Our success drives through our clients, getting popular among Indian community as currently focused on word of mouth expansion through stand out personal service and best guaranteed rate.

We are flexible in many aspects than our peers!!! (like booking over the phone/SMS, locking the rate, direct access to dealer over the phone on weekends/ evening until 9pm)

We provide INR to AUD service (any other major currencies to AUD) as well with very competitive rates.

In few months, we are expanding in USA and other countries.

I have been using SBI and feel confident about it. I also used ICIC once...

I use ICICI as well as SBI, I have never found SBI rates better than ICICI. FYI