Best Ways to Send Money to India

Is it not difficult to choose a method when you have too many methods to send money to India? Well, this page just helps you out of this dilemma. We have written short reviews of some of the popular money transfer methods. We hope all reviews in one page will help you decide your method of tranfer.

The mode of payment that you choose depend on the charges applied, reliability of the service, ease of use and time involved. Even more, the availability of the service at the recipient’s location matter a lot.

There are many money transfer methods available to send money India. But not many specifics are available to compare these methods. We are trying to compare these methods on basis of charges, reliability, ease of use and service. The reviews are as given below:

Western Union Money Transfer

Western Union Money Transfer is one of the oldest money transfer company founded in 1851. It has a huge network spread in almost 200 countries with 350,000 agents. In India we can only receive funds but cannot send.

Following are the advantages of Western Union Money Transfer:

1. The service is uncomplicated, trustworthy and fast.
2. The transferred money can be obtained in 15 minutes.
3. For payments lower than US$ 100, the charges are roughly US$ 18.
4. Since you can accept payment in cash, this is the most suggested method.

Now coming to the disadvantages:

1. The service charges are fairly high.
2. The exchange rate can be lower than other methods
3. Any problems at recipients end can increase the time taken for money transfer.

Wire Transfer or Telegraphic Transfer

In telegraphic transfer, the money is transferred from one bank account to other bank account. The charges for transfer differ according to country of recipient. Hence it is better check with the bank to know the charges for your destination.

Advantages of Swift Wire Transfer:

1. Charges are less for a transfer from some countries, like USA to India.
2. Time period required for transfer is 3-5 days.

Disadvantages of wire transfer:

1. The bank account numbers and IBAN and BIC codes of bank are needed for transfer.
2. Some banks require proof of transfer. You may need to send copy of the transfer receipt to receiver.

It is always wise to go through the charge details prescribed by the bank before sending money.

Moneybookers Money Transfer

From selected European countries, senders can make payments through the local banks. Senders from other countries can use the credit or debit cards for payment.

The advantages of Moneybookers are:

1. The transfer charges are small.
2. To exchange money to Indian Rupees a fixed fee is applied. This fee is approximately Rupees 200 per Euro 3.5 irrelevant of the amount.
3. It takes almost 3 to 4 weeks to receive money.

Demand Draft or Cashiers Cheque

One can use a demand draft or Cashier’s cheque instead of a personal cheque to guarantee that his funds for payment are available.

A cashier's cheque is secured because the amount of the check must first be deposited by the individual into the issuing institution's own account. The person or entity to which the cheque is made out is then guaranteed to receive the money when cashing the check.

The advantages of demand draft are:

1. It can be drawn in any main currency like US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling and Euro.
2. It is the most economical way for senders in many countries.
3. To realize the draft, charges in any nationalized bank in India are small commission plus postal charges.

The nationalized banks are liked better for realizing small amount drafts or cheques. In private banks the fee charged is fixed irrelevant of amount. It is approximately Rupees 300 to Rupees 500.

Indian Rupee Draft

Indian Rupee draft is a draft drawn in Indian Rupees and payable at any one of 241 locations in India. It is in those countries where Indian population is high. Especially those like Middle Eastern countries. The drafts in Indian Rupees have small overheads. Also the charges for making drafts are low as US$ 2.

Advantages of Indian Rupee Draft:

1. Faster Transfers – Banks like HSBC lets the Indian account credited in just 3 working days.
2. Freedom from unfavourable exchange rates - Uncertainty on exchange rates, typical of all transfers in foreign exchange, does not exist as the draft is in Indian Rupees.
3. Added benefit of knowing the final Indian Rupee amount upfront, especially when credit of exact amount is critical.

Letter of Credit (L/C)

In addition to the above methods, if you want to transfer money of value more than US$ 5000 the there is a safer option called Letter of Credit (L/C).

Letter of Credit is a letter of guarantee. Letters of credit are common in international trade. It is given by the bank in support of the importer (receiver) or buyer (sender). The L/C is drawn only after the documents of execution of the transaction are obtained. The banks act as an uninterested party between buyer and seller.

Advantages of using Letter of Credit:

1. Importers and exporters can use letters of credit to protect themselves.
2. It simplifies the communication across thousands of miles and different time zones.
3. It spells out the details so that everybody's on the same page.
4. It guarantees the payment for seller or exporter.
5. For payments more than US$ 5000, this is the chosen method of money transfer.

The charges are different for each bank. The processing charges for L/C are fixed added to the percentage of transfer amount.

So this is the evaluation of some popular money transfer methods to India on the basis of charges, time required for transfer and others. Using this review one can take decision regarding which method is suitable for him.