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This
is one situation every Indian faces one time or another
after coming to the USA. There could be many reasons for
you to send money to India: ailing parents, weddings,
education or just a monthly remittance.
Many new services and companies are now offering Money
transfer services to India and across the globe. Wire
transfer or Western union are no longer the only options
available, there are various other ways to do so. But before you choose the money transfer service, it
is important to understand the basic concept and its
mode of operation. After all, its your hard earn money
and a little understanding on this topic can surely
make you save significant amount of money and get you
some peace of mind as well. All other traditional way of Money transfer is already
mentioned on this website refer this article : Ways
to Transfer your Money Here we will be exploring about the new and poplar
money transfer mode.
- ACH or direct debit : Debit to
your US bank checking account and transfer to the
beneficiary account/draft.
- Credit Card : you pay from your
Credit card and money is delivered to your beneficiary
in the home country currency.
Factors to look for :
- Credibility: The name of the company
and its credibility.
- Fee: What are the charges per transaction.Are
there any additional charges if mode of transfer is
Credit Card ? or if the beneficiary is
other then yourself? Or if the delivery mode is a
Draft?
- Conversion Rate : This is one of
the most important and catchy thing which one should
definitely pay attention to, as you many see a low
Fee but eventually end up paying more on conversion/exchange
rate.
- Customer Support : How
is the customer support, is there some one who can
listen to you in case you need help in tracking down
your money you send and either never reached or delayed
or delivered a wrong transaction?
- US toll free number ? example :
ICICI money to India has a toll free number.
- Time to deliver : How long does
it take to deliver?
- Ease of use? How easy is it use?
Is the transaction secure?
Frequently Asked Questions: (FAQ)
- I send money on regular basis, which is best for
me?
- I send occasionally, which one is good for me?
- I want to send money urgently, which one is good
for me?
- I bought a property and need to send money in installment
in regular basis what is a good option?
- I want to send some money, but I really am not in
hurry.
Answers: If you are sending money to your personal account,
use a NRE account and try if the same bank offers any
money transfer services. Most of the banks do, like
ICICI and HDFC, SBI and few more. Note : Some foreign banks who have presence in both
countries in USA as well as your home country, do lure
people to have a NRE account with them and then transfer
money online from their regular checking account to
the NRE account. For example: Citibank reports your
interest earns on the NRE account to IRS and expects
you to report in your US tax. So better to have your
NRE account with any nationalized bank instead of a
US bank like Citibank. If urgent, do a wire transfer/ or use western union. If you want to send it on a regular basis, you may
use your personnel check and send it by post. This may
take some time for the beneficiary to deposit and get
it cleared but you there is no need to use any money
transfer service and may save on Fee. You can also provide post dated checks to the person/party,
and ask them to deposit in their account but ensure
that time you have funds available in your account well
in advance before the actual date of deposit of check.. This is one of the best ways, for people who send money
to their parents on regular basis. Also for those who
are paying some property installments. Some popular services:
Money2India: from ICICI bank.
( ACH/direct debit for USA bank accounts) |
