Pest Practices For Remitting Money To India From The US
August 4, 2009 by Albert Torn
Filed under Credit Card
When it comes to sending money from the United States to India, most people are looking for a manner that is safe, rapid and inexpensive. There are advantages and disadvantages to many of the viable options for transferring money to India, but it is helpful to know some of the dissimilarities between the many options that are available.
One way to send funds from the U.S. to India is to do it the old fashioned way and write a check. The disadvantage is that this is a quite slow technique. Worldwide mail can take anywhere from one to 4 weeks to arrive at its destination, and once the recipient of the money finally receives the check, his or her local bank is certain to freeze the funds for up to three weeks while the check posts. To save time, some people who desire to make frequent payouts to someone in India can draft several post-dated checks”a risky proposition. Another risk with this method is that the transfer charge is set on the day the check clears, so the amount of US money sent may not translate into the correct number of Rupees that you originally wanted to send. This method can take a long time, but it is the cheapest way to send monies to India.
If youd like to mail a check in Rupees, Indias largest bank, the State Bank of India, now has many branches in the United States. Customers can open accounts, transfer money into those accounts, and then draft checks denominated in Rupees to send to India. This cuts down on some delay with the holding of checks and mitigates transfer risk. The State Bank of India charges $10 for all checks under Rs 50,000. If the receiver of the money has an account in India with the State Bank of India, you can also directly wire cash from a US office. Other banks, such as Citibank, allow consumers to open Rupee checking accounts.
Outside of sending checks or using India-Friendly banks, other companies have International money transfer capabilities. This is an attractive option for some because its speedy, but its also quite expensive and recipients must be close to areas of operation in India, which can be rare.
Many websites are now in operation that can be used to transfer money directly to India. These types of sites allow customers to send funds to India using a credit card via the internet. Typically, a check is issued and received by the receiver within five business days. The costs associated with these transfers can be large, but are generally lower than sending funds through an Worldwide bank transfer company.
It is a great idea to use a credible firm if you choose to transfer monies electronically and to understand costs and conversion rates that will be used, as well as how long it will take for those monies to be obtained. It is also a good idea to find a company with superb customer support, in case the process becomes misguided along the way.
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