Money Transfer from US to India

There are several options for transferring money from US to India. The choice of the correct money transfer agent depends on following factors:

1) Exchange Rate Offered
2) Service Charges (Transfer Fees)
3) How soon do you need money in India

If you need money immediately in India, then Western Union is your best bet. However, Western Union actually offers one of the worst exchange rates and charges a hefty fees of $39 upto $3000 transferred. If you can wait for a week or so, then several other options are available. While most of these companies charge a service charge of anywhere between $0 to $50, they make most of their money on the dollar-rupee spread. In other words, they offer you an exchange rate that is lower than what they are getting from RBI (Reserve Bank of India) or other banks. Therefore, one of the most important criteria in picking the money transfer service is the exchange rate offered by them. Here is a list of all the money transfer services and a link to their current Dollar-Rupee Exchange Rate:

ICICI Money2India - https://m2inet.icicibank.co.in/m2iNet/calculateCharges.misc

Remit2India - http://www.timesofmoney.com/remittance/jsp/r2iExchRateCalculator.jsp?strAction=show&partnerSite=TOML&sendercountry=US&sendercurrency=USD&uiId=TOM

SBI - http://www.statebank.com/RemittanceServiceIndMaster.asp

Citi Bank - https://citiremit.payquik.com/info_exrates.php

Western Union - https://wumt.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/priceShopperRedirectAction.do?method=load

EMoneyGram - https://www.emoneygram.com/eMoneyGram/estimatorPage.do?country=IND&amount=100.00

Lets take a closer look at the exchange rates offered by these companies. For a transfer amount of $10,000, here are the exchange rates offered by these companies on Feb 5, 2010.

ICICI - 46.2675

Remit2India - 46.41

SBI - 46.41

Citi - 45.79

Western Union - 45.93

Emoneygram - 46.40

As we can see, Remit2India offers the best exchange rates compared to other services, most of which are banks. Further, Remit2India also waves the service charges or transfer fees if the trasferred amount is greater than $25000.

From my personal experience, I am fairly satisfied with Remit2India service. Last time when I wanted to make a transfer, I actually called them a few times and finally got to speak with someone who was able to explain to me how and when they calculated the Dollar-Rupee exchange rate. Infact, I was able to convince him that I am a regular customer and will be using the service to transfer money on a consistent basis. As a result, I was given a special code that entitled me to extra Rs 0.03 per dollar transferred. If anyone needs details on how to get that along with the Sales manager who helped me get this deal, then feel free to ping me.

In summary, don't be fooled by the illusion of "free" money transfer from USD to INR. Pay close attention to the exchange rates they are offering and compare them with other similar services using the links published above.