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munnabhai02

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Can somebody suggest what will be a fastest, easiest and cheapest way to send money to India?
I have an account with ICICI Bank, but without an Internet banking password, they are not allowing any transaction to be done over the internet.
I donot want to transfer the money to the receivers bank account because it takes a lot time.
Can somebody share if I can send a draft in Indian Rupees directly to the home address. I know of western union but the exchange rate they offer is too low and the fee is very high.
Another option someone suggested is to open an account with citybank.
Please share if you may
thanks
 
If you open a Citibank NRE account (min. of $500 or $1000 balance), you can send the D.Ds free of cost to anyone in India. Typically it takes about 3-7 days to reach the person in India. But I think ICICI exchange rates are higher than citibank. So far citibank has worked well for me. Hope it helps.
 
Thanks
But what is the maintenance fee in citibank?
Since I rarely transfer money, I donot want to keep giving monthly fee to maintain a new account.
 
Check the following

http://www.money2india.com (ICICI)
http://www.remit2india.com
http://www.cash2india.com
https://www.rapidremitsvc.com/
https://www.c2it.com (Citibank)
http://www.moneydart.com/
http://www.statebankofindia.com/nribanking/remmitances.asp
http://www.statebank.com/ (SBI in US)

Check which ones have lower fees and better exchange rates. ICICI gives better rates than Citi. SBI rates are also better than Citi. In fact, Citi makes up money by paying the lowest exchange rate compared to others.

Todays Rs. exchange for a $
ICICI : 46.82 to 46.86
SBI: 46.45 to 46.68
Citi: 45.837
Remit2India: 46.23 to 46.27

Suggestion would be to send thru ICICI since you already have an account. Try getting the internet account setup.

http://www.hydonline.com/students/USA_India/sending_money_2_india.html
 
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No maintenance fees - Citibank NRE

But you've to always maintain a min. balance of $1000.00 (on which you get some small interest!). If your average balance falls below $1000.00, they'll charge you a $10.00 monthly fee to maintain the account.

The free drafts are pretty good. I use this facility quite often to send drafts in Mumbai/Bombay. The drafts are hand-delivered by a courier and they reach in 2 days!!! (maybe it takes longer for smaller cities).

It also allows me to nominate somebody (my mom) and she gets a chesk book and an ATM card... pretty good huh!

Well, after so much of 'good' about citibank, I deserve a $500.00 min. balance account - got to fight with them ;)
 
Great Work, Thanks very much.
Is it not amazing to see the difference in exchange rates with different carriers ranging from 1US$=Rs.46.75 to 47.20. I mean, it might be a difference of 0.50 paisa only, but if the amount is big, then makes a large difference in the total amount reaching the receiver.
Thanks for the help anyway
 
munnabhai02,
iKobo fees are way too much ($20) and the max limit seems like $500. :(

As for myself, I have felt ICICI is best (no fees with ICICI account in some scenarios and best rates). I would be more comfortable with ICICI, SBI, Remit2India (parent timesofmoney.com thru which I buy Indian mutual funds), Citi than iKobo.
 
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munnabhai02, thanks for sharing the info. But as livefree8 said, the fee seems high. The citibank maintenance question has been answered by vidongre. It takes only 2 days if you are sending a draft to the location where your account is held at in India. Probably ICICI is a better choice.
 
Personally I feel ICICI is much more better than any other money transfer service and overall rates are pretty good. I always use money2india.com and it is very convinent way to send money back in India by few mouse clicks. Best part is US dollars is debited from US bank and credited to the benfeciary in 10 days max with no service charge for account holders.

I will suggest if you have a account with ICICI then u must registered in money2india. :)
 
I agree livefree8, but you know ICICI wants me to write a letter to Mumbai branch and then I will be given a password by mail. I did't know its going to take 1 month to get a password for internet banking. I have an account (FCNR) since 1999 and before coming to US, I broke that amount into 2 FD's auto renewable every 12 months. Never checked the status of my FD's until I received a letter at India home address (where no one lives now) that I need to fill a form for tax purposes if the interest earned is more than Rs 10,000.
I had even informed them of change of my address (US) before coming here but still they are sending letters to my old address.
Now after chatting with a representative on the internet regarding my wish to see the latest statements, I was told that I need to get a password first.
Interestingly the password cannot be supplied over the internet because they donot trust the email account. But they have full faith on a hand written letter. May be because of the signatures.
I am also requesting them if I can scan that signed letter and email them intead of sending by mail.
I have already applied for it. Lets see when it comes. But yes, I would anyday prefer ICICI.
Thanks
 
munnabhai02,

Ignore the ICICI password for the time being. Just register for Money2India and see what happens. I think you can still register for it and attach the ICICI account.
 
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