Money Transfer To India

[Deeps]

I am from the USA, and currently holidaying in India and will here for another 3 months. I brought cash along with me which is soon going to be finished and obviously will need more, so I need to know the best way to get money from the USA to India.
I have money in my bank account which I can withdraw from the ATM, but I think the exchange rate would be rubbish. The other option I have is to ask my parent back home to send me money via Money Gram or something similar. The last option is getting money transferred into my uncle's account in India which he can withdraw for me.
Which option would the best and give me the best exchange rate?

 

[amelia88]

Do you have a paypal account that you could transfer to your uncles account? (Assuming he also has PayPal?)

Oftentimes doing international bank transfers is super expensive (like $30 or so, from my bank anyway!) so I usually just use PayPal when needing to send family or friends overseas cash.

That could be an option. I don't know about fees for Western Union or other money lenders, or how reputable they are...maybe someone else can shed some light on that one!

 

[Startlet245]

I think Western Union have just changed their rules about cash transfers, at least my friend just told me she had trouble collecting money that way while in Egypt recently, so I would avoid that route.

I think Amelia's suggestion of using PayPal is great, and if either of you don't have an account it's really easy to set one up. There is a small fee for international transfers but if you check the 'shared expenses' box it's pretty reasonable.

 

[thedeatheater1410]

I am not sure why you say the exchange rate would be rubbish. Actually since you would be getting dollars from USA after converting into rupees you will have a far higher amount. Not only in numerical terms but also in purchasing power terms, since everything in India is much cheaper than in US. Try to go to any McDonalds if you want to check; the least priced burger would be around 40 cents.

 

[Kling]

@thedeatheater1410 exchange rates do matter, either you are not sure what exchange rates are or you do not understand how the rates matter.

 

[Lisa]

Actually since you would be getting dollars from USA after converting into rupees you will have a far higher amount.

You are mixing things up. For the same US dollar different banks and institutions have different rates.

Opening a local bank account is the best way to do it if your stay is going to be long. You end up paying 3-4% commission every time you take money out of an ATM from your home country account.

 

[Elizabetonth]

Paypal is good, but a REALLY good way is also to use Transferwise! If you transfer cash from your account in the US to your uncle's account in India, using Transferwise would mean that you got the value of the exchange rate, and didn't have to pay any bank fees etc at all. I use it all the time to transfer money between different countries, and I love it - it makes life so much easier. The only thing is that you might have to wait a little while before your money arrives. I've always found it's quicker than it says it'll be, though - it usually says two days, but arrives the next day anyway.

 

[rz3300]

I would not recommend Western Union. I have had nothing but bad experiences with them and just a lot of headaches. For one their rates are fairly high when compared to others and then they always ask me the most detailed questions and I cannot stand it. It might just be a pet peeve sort of thing but I would have to go elsewhere.

 

[Trevlr]

Consider receiving money through PayPal which is the cheapest way to transfer money. You can withdraw money from PayPal to a bank account in India which means that you must first open a bank account. Though this is not the fastest way to transfer money since it can take upto 8 days for the money to be reflected to your account. If you want to receive money quickly then consider Western Union or MoneyGram. You can also receive money through wire transfer which can be expensive.