[OT] Best way to send money to India quickly

I have been using ICICI ever since I opened up the NRE account with them, its total online transaction, best rates, no hassles. Here is what you do in a normal transaction:

If you have money in your ICICI NRE account:

1. Transafer money by using there "Fund Transfer" option on the website thru your NRE account to any ICICI (2 seconds) or Non-ICICI bank (2 days).


If you do NOT have money in your ICICI NRE account:

1. You must have an account with their money2india service with your bank account configured.
2. Submit a E-transaction to transfer money from your Bank to your NRE account. Takes about 5 business days to reach to your NRE account.
3. Then just transafer money by using there "Fund Transfer" option on the website thru your NRE account to any ICICI (2 seconds) or Non-ICICI bank (2 days) account.

My personal experience is, if you do everything correct then there are no issues and transaction will go smoothly, but if you make even a single simple mistake, then be prepare to deal with an INDIAN bank (You know what I mean).
 
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Frantic,

I have been using ICICI's e-transfer (ACH transfer) ever since they introduced it ( same as ICICI's money2india service). Prior to it I used to use to deposit US Banking checks with ICICI in India.

Pros:

- Very Simple & Easy and totally Hassle Free
- I haven't noticed any significant difference in rates vs check.
- Toll free Number
- Online Tracking of the status
- After your benficiaries are set up ( 1 time only), the process is a snap.


Cons :

- It doesn't reach ur account in 2 days as advertised. Takes 4-5 days.

Really hasn't found anything that could go wrong in their transfer forms unless you are extremely careless. Just feel good that a purely Indian bank is doing almost on par with US banks in online banking ease....

Hope this helps...
 
Enquired about the wire-transfer too. The exchange rates on wire-transfer are the same as the dollar rates on that day when the transfer takes place. No commission or reduction on the rates here. But a wire-transfer fee of 30 dollars for DCU members kills this.

So far this is what I have found:
personal check - best exchange rates and very minimal commission, but takes 2-3 weeks
ICICI e-transfer - good exchange rates (a commission of around 23 paise) and no transfer fees, takes 3-4 days if the account is setup (this is an e-transfer account and not a checking or savings account - so minimums)
Wire-transfer - faster way to transfer money and best exchange rates, but a fee of 30-50 dollars
Citibank - poor exchange rates and you need to have a checking account setup with them with a minimum balance
Western Union - fastest way to transfer money but poor exchange rates and big transfer fees around 100 dollars for 1500 dollars.
Cash2India - can pay by credit card or paypal but the transfer fees are more, if you have the ACH linked with your checking account, the transfer fee is a flat 7 bucks. Very poor exchange rates though.

Overall I found e-transfer to be the best service if you take everything into account. Hope this helps people who are planning to send money to India.

And one more thing, I forgot to mention hawala, this is the best method at anytime. I wonder if anyone is doing this, since the Indian Rupee is appreciating, Indian tax laws are being liberalized, people can have foreign investments etc.
 
more or less the same when compared to citibank.

Originally posted by frantic
I know that the best way to transfer money is through a personal check - my dad has a bunch of them with him. But he gets the money in 2-3 weeks. He needs them immediately to pay for the flight tickets.

ICICI has an e-transfer, where they link your US checking account through ACH with your e-transfer account at ICICI. Once that link is done, you have an option of transferring the US dollars to another ICICI account (my brother has one) without any fee. What I want to know is, what are their exchange rates in this case, compared to the regualr rates?
Click to expand...

Have used it. Initially transfer takes about 5-7 days. After that it is relatively quicker, upto 3 days, They can do intrabank transfer but charge if DD needs to be delivered.
 
After Thinking lot about transferring the money I opened a separate account for that. Handed over an ATM card to mother and told her how to use it. I do not know about the rates. But you need not pay any fees to use ATM machines it is good.
 
My Experiemce ICICI

Had all the trouble in just yet to open an account.
saga from more than an year.Improper/circary type customer response.Till not opened.Documenattion required--N times/types.
Rules simialr to 19th century Angrezi rule period.
No co-ordinating office or at least US local agent.But they want lot of accounts!No plans even to appoint.
Citi Bank--poor exchange rate.prompt resopnse.100%hassle free. 3rd day deposit.Have local NRI service centers.Immediate help.No electronic transaction.Online account accessibilty.
 
Even I have trouble with ICICI. They are sending all documentation to India's Home address. Above all when I tried accessing my online account it got freeze. Till now they are not able to open it. Now they are asking me send Fax to India to reset my password.
Since last five months I am unable to access my account. Worst service. Seems same people are working for UCICS.
 
You don't need to have a checking account with ICICI? If all you need is to transfer money to India, do it through their e-transfer. Let the people in India (whom you want to send the money to) open an account with ICICI. ICICI disables your account after two failed logins which is very stringent. I have chatted with one of their representatives for help with e-transfer and I have no problems with their service.

ATMs and credit cards - there are so many layers involved - the issuing bank (in the US like BankOne or DCU), the visa network and then the one in India. There may be fees/commissions involved in all these layers.
 
How about Hawala ?? with in 2 days (only major cities though)...you can send the check once you receive the money in India..and rate is good too .. compared to banks and western union ... I use this option when I have similar situations like you...
 
Participant & tammy2: You guys made a very simple mistake (I made it too) that can be fixed in 2 seconds if you dealing with any US bank.

But like I said in my previous response:
"If you make a very simple mistake when using ICICI Bank services, BE PREPARE to deal with a PURE INDIAN BANK."
 
HOW the hawal aworks

How this hawala works.

How to get hold of an agent. Is it risky ?????
 
I opened ICICI account last year and their service is good. They are little paranoid about security but I think it is okay.

They send documents to address on their records like for me they have sent documents to my address in U.S by DHL most of the time.

Their ACH service really rocks, what else do you expect, it is better to wait for 4-5 days rather than to pay $17/transaction, My local bank charges $17 per request which is a lot.

So far ICICI works, although HDFC also has good service but they don't have ACH facilities but do have check deposit facility which takes almost 3 weeks.
 
Just wanted to make a few comments w.r.t ICICI on some of the cons/ complaints mentioned here.. As U can see, over the period of last few yrs I have become fiercely loyal to them.


Online Security meassures for ICICI online account:

- Yes , they are extremely cautious/paranoid abt security requiring change in pwds and restrictions for passwords, locking the account if more than 3 wrong pwd attempts in one session.. Good or Bad , perception varies...!!!

Behold, if U lose your password or the account gets locked , they send you the new password by DHL free of charge..The last time I sent a package by DHL, the cheapest cost was Rs.1000+.. and they have done this thrice during my first six months of service with ICICI Online banking.. what more do you expect..??


Account Statements sent to Home address in India..

They sent account statements to your foreign address w/o any addl charges.. Statements are sent to your Indian address bcos you have requested for it in ur apps inadvertently..

-Has to agree that account opening is not a breeze as it is with many other banks like Citi..

But all this applies only to ICICI Banking accounts which you do not need to transfer money .. It's an independent product called money2india.. ( www.money2india.com), which perhaps is the best balanced option if you value both your cents and time.
 
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