NRI Money Transfer – NRI working abroad settled in the USA, UK, and Canada has one important task at all times – sending money to India. It is sometimes observed that they struggle hard to send money to family. They are not aware of various options, the time taken by transfer, exchange rates, and fees charged. To help, them here is a complete guide exploring various options for sending money to India.
There are multiple options for NRI to send money to India. They can do a wire transfer, TT, agent-based transfer, or online transfer to send money. Availability of these options depends upon from which country you are sending money to India.
NRI Money Transfer Options
Bank Wire Transfer
- A bank wire transfer is an offline method of money transfer.
- This wire transfer mechanism works with the use of the SWIFT code.
- For wire transfers, it is mandatory to have a bank account with the bank through which you are sending the remittance.
- The time taken by the bank for wire transfers depends on the bank. If you are sending funds from a bank that has a branch in India, it will take less time and you may get a discount in fee.
- If you are sending funds from a bank that does not have a branch in India, it will take 3-4 days for fund transfer.
- Exchange rate offers by the bank may be fixed or variable.
How to do a Bank Wire Transfer?
- You can initiate a bank wire transfer from the local bank at the overseas location. You need to give instruction at the bank to transfer the money.
- You need to mention the account number, name, address, and purpose of remittance.
- The sending bank sends a message via a secure system using a SWIFT Code to the receiving bank.
- This message also contains settlement instructions. Once the correspondent bank receives instruction actual transfer takes place.
Under actual transfer, the correspondent bank collects the payment on behalf of the recipient. A transfer fee will be deducted from the fund and the remaining fund will be transferred to the recipient.
International Money Transfer Service
- International Money Transfer is offered by various financial service providers like Western Union Money Transfer, Money Gram, etc.
- This service is available in online and offline mode.
- The maximum remittance amount cap is 2500$ under this service.
- The maximum amount paid to the recipient in cash is Rs 50,000 remaining amount shall be paid by cheque.
- Only 30 transactions can be received by a single beneficiary in a calendar year using this service.
- A recipient needs to produce valid identity proof to receive money. An Identity proof document includes a Driving license, passport, Aadhaar card, PAN card, etc.
How to send money via an International Money Transfer Service?
- In order to initiate a fund transfer, you need to visit Western Union / Money Gram office.
- You need to fill up a form mentioning the details of the recipient to send the amount. You need to pay the principal amount and charges.
- Once transaction processing starts you will get a unique transfer control number or reference number.
- Thereafter, you need to inform the recipient about the money transfer and reference number.
- A recipient visits the Western Union/MoneyGram office fills up the form and shows valid identity proof to receive the fund.
- Money transfer using this service is very fast and reliable. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes.
Online Money Transfer Service
- Online money transfer service is the easiest way of money transfer. This service is provided by online service provider like xoom.com, remit2india.com etc.
- This service is also offered by banks like ICICI Bank (money2india), State Bank etc.
- Using online money transfer, you can transfer funds from any foreign bank account or even a credit card to any bank account in India.
- The time taken for the transfer of this money is usually four hours.
- A transaction fee for online money transfers varies from $2.99 to $5.
- The transaction limit is $2,500 per transaction. If you fulfill KYC norms you can remit up to $9,999.
How to send money via an online money transfer service?
- You need to sign up with the online service provider to send money to India.
- The next step is to provide information about the amount.
- After that, you need to provide recipient information and details about how this money will be received.
- Once you are done with providing the information you can initiate a money transfer.
Other methods for money transfer are international money orders, bank drafts, cashier cheques, and PayPal.
Tips to NRI for Money Transfer
- Kindly compare various money transfer services before initiating the money transfer. Find out the best exchange rate, lowest transfer fees, and reliable service.
- It is advisable to send large amounts in a single go rather than sending small amounts in multiple parts as you will be paying transfer fees every time you initiate a fund transfer.
- Make yourself aware of the maximum transfer limit.
- Be aware and calculate the total cost. The transfer fee charged by the money transfer service provider may be low, but the exchange rate could be high. Do mathematics before initiating a fund transfer.
Example – Suppose, you want to send $1000 to India.
Company A offers an exchange rate of $1 = Rs 83 with $2.99 transfer fees.
Company B offers an exchange rate of $1 = Rs 83.5 with $5 transfer fees.
If you select company A, the final amount received by the recipient will be ($1000×83 – $2.99×83) = 82751.8 Rs
If you select company B, the final amount received by the recipient will be ($1000×83.5 -$5×83.5) = 83082.5 Rs
So go for a company that offers better exchange rates.
- If you urgently need to send money, it is advisable to use an online money transfer or an International money transfer service.
- Make yourself aware of liabilities you may face in case funds are not remitted properly by a specified date and time.
- Check about the refund policy offered by the service provider.
- Confirm whether hidden charges are applicable at the time of receiving money or recipient needs to pay an additional service charge or not.
Conclusion –
Sending money to India is very easy today. There are plenty of fund transfer options available to NRI. The only task NRI needs to do is to find the best money transfer service provider suitable to his/her requirements. I hope the tips given here will help them to select the same.
