Free transfer

However, you could avoid paying any fees at all! The State Bank of India located in California remits drafts for Rs.50,000 (about $1,236) and above absolutely free. The State Bank of India has its branches in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Artesia, Canoga Park and Fresno. What isn’t immediately obvious though is that there is an exchange rate earning that the bank makes when you transfer money. And that is how they make their money. What is waived is merely a processing fee or service charge of the transfer.

The ICICI Bank also has an e-transfer service for the NRI community – Money2India. This facility offers free remittance to any ICICI Bank account in India. There are over five hundred branches spread over the country and recipients can easily open an account at a branch near them. Money2India also offers to remit money to bank accounts of several other banks free of any charge, provided the amount transferred is more than $1,000. The service provider extends this free-of-cost service to demand drafts for amounts over $1,000 to several destinations in India too. It also includes remittances to ICICI Visa Card accounts free of any cost. Again, watch out for exchange rates which may not be as good as they seem.

HSBC Bank, Wells Fargo and some other banks have similar e-transfer services for their NRI customers.

A newer and better option for many is the online transfer facility that is offered by independent service providers. With the ease of logging on to your online account with service providers like Remit2India, you’re able to get money home faster and for less money than you’d be charged by banks (which have higher overheads and costs which are transferred to you as a customer).

Read the Terms and conditions properly

Before you avail these facilities from any service provider, it is advisable to confirm that there are no hidden charges involved. Make sure you understand the exchange rate that the service provider is using to convert your currency into Indian rupees. If a service provider offers you a free money transfer for a lower exchange rate than other providers, it is not really a free service, is it? Get all the information you need before you decide upon a particular service provider.

Since I have an NRE account with HDFC bank, I use their QuickRemit service to transfer money to India for free. But behind the scenes QuickRemit uses the Times of Money service Remit2India.

What do you use ?

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