Sending Money to India - Which is the cheapest?

As I understand, there are multiple ways to do money transfer to India. If we go to some India related websites, the popups are all about sending money to India. Amidst all that, it is very hard to compare one type of money transfer against the other and see which one is the cheapest?

Has anyone here done any comparison among the several banks? Is one bank/service better than everything else? If none of us have done such a comparison, maybe we can use this thread to do such a comparison!

So, what is your preferred way for doing money transfer to India?
How much does it cost?
How long does it take?

Akalya

Hi Akalya,

I have done money transfer to India via ICICI (I live in Canada).
If you are not in any urgency to transfer the money instantaneously and don't mind if the bank can hold your money for sometime, this might be a good option.

ICICI holds the money at their end for 4 to 5 business days, they do not charge any commission for transfer, it's only the exchange rate difference that you will give away in the transfer.

I guess ICICI makes up the commission by holding the money at their end.
If I am right, you need not even have account with ICICI in India. They will do money transfer from your bank account to any bank's account in India.

I do the traditional wire transfer. I go to my bank, fill out a wire transfer form and then my parents receive the money in 3 to 4 days, even though the bank claims 48 hours.

They charge me approximatley $28 for it.

+
It is fast

-
They want me to come to the bank everytime. Not possible to do online or over the phone.
The charges are pretty high.

I do the traditional wire transfer. I go to my bank, fill out a wire transfer form and then my parents receive the money in 3 to 4 days, even though the bank claims 48 hours.

They charge me approximatley $28 for it.

+
It is fast

-
They want me to come to the bank everytime. Not possible to do online or over the phone.
The charges are pretty high.

Hi,

I tried money transfer to India via ICICI, Western Union and cash2india. ICICI is pathetic, exchange rates they give is too less and it takes a lot of time whereas the fees of western union is too high. Right now, i do money transfer to India thru cash2india, the exchange rate they give is comparetively more and fees is also less. Try it and if u find any thing better please let me know

I'm not sure whether money transfer via Citibank is the cheapest. But all I know is it is realiable and safe to transfer.

I had a citibank account while in India and when I contacted them recently they were ready to convert it into NRI account.

I also got the following information that if you open a rupee checking account with a minimum balance of $500, you can transfer money for FREE, you can get a draft issued for delivery anywhere in India and your family in India will be given a Debit/ATM card for drawing money and for purchases.

Check out their site for more details and it might be better and useful!

Hello Ladies,

Those who are interested in knowing about a new option to transfer money to India, you may want to check out HDFC bank's. They have something called 'e-monies', using which you can transfer money to India free with 4 to 5 business days.

All you need to have is a HDFC bank account (with Netbanking feature) and you can send money to any bank in India - at NO cost. I tried this and it works perfectly fine for me.

hi friends,

iam also using HDFC's 'e-monies' to transfer money to india.
it is safe and good. u too can try.

regards,
surya.