If you have a business in India and you regularly transfer money there, you already know that some money transfer services offer better conditions than others.
However, finding secure, reliable and affordable methods to send money to India can cost you a lot of time and money.
We have a remote team with people in 19 different countries around the world. The two transfer methods we use the most are:
The Time Doctor team has created a special series of articles dedicated to providing information about money transfer charges and hidden conversion costs for international monetary transfers.
The following tables provide information about the best options for sending money to India from across the world. Pay attention to the upfront fees and exchange rates that popular services charge you for transferring money.
| Table 1 – Sending $1000 from the US to India | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer Method | Stated fees to send $1000 USD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
| OFX (previously USForex)* | $0 | $7.5 | $7.5 | 1-2 days | ||
| Wise, formerly TransferWise (recommended partner) | $9 | $0 | $9 | 1-2 days | ||
| Currencyfair | $4 | $5 | $9 | 1-2 days | ||
| Xoom | $5 | $6.5 | $11.5 | 3-5 days | ||
| Remitly (slow) | $0 | $13 | $13 | 3-5 days | ||
| MoneyGram (slow) | $5 | $10 | $15 | 3-5 days | ||
| Ria Money Transfer (slow) | $5 | $10 | $15 | 3-5 days | ||
| Western Union (slow) | $6 | $11 | $17 | 3-5 days | ||
| Xpress Money | $10 | $7 | $17 | 3-5 days | ||
| Lucky Money | $0 | $19 | $19 | 3-5 days | ||
| MoneyGram (fast) | $10 | $10 | $20 | Minutes | ||
| Ria Money Transfer (fast) | $10 | $10 | $20 | Minutes | ||
| WorldRemit* | $4 | $16 | $20 | 3-5 days | ||
| Remitly (fast) | $4 | $17 | $21 | Minutes | ||
| Western Union (fast) | $10 | $11 | $21 | Minutes | ||
| Transfast (slow) | $5 | $16 | $21 | 3-5 days | ||
| Remit2India | $6 | $19 | $25 | 3-5 days | ||
| XE Trade | $0 | $27 | $27 | 3-5 days | ||
| Zenbanx | $5 | $25 | $30 | 2-3 days | ||
| Payoneer | $3 | $28 | $31 | 3-5 days | ||
| Transfast (fast) | $30 | $16 | $46 | Minutes | ||
| Wire transfer | $25-55 | $10-30 | $35-85 | 3-5 days | ||
| Travelex | $0 | $151 | $151 | 3-5 days | ||
| Table 2: Sending Money to India from Different Countries. The TOTAL Cost in Percentages including the HIDDEN currency exchange fees. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer Method | From the US | From the UK | From Canada | From Western Europe | From Australia | |
| Wise, formerly TransferWise (recommended partner) | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.7% | |
| OFX (previously USForex) | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | |
| Currencyfair | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1% | 1% | 0.9% | |
| Xoom | 1.2% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| FastRemit | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | 1.2% | |
| Remitly | 1.3% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| Azimo | Not available | 1.4% | Not available | 1.2% | Not available | |
| Ria Money Transfer | 1.5% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| Small World FS | Not available | 1% | Not available | 1.7% | Not available | |
| Lucky Money | 1.9% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| WorldRemit | 2% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.8% | 1.1% | |
| Western Union | 1.7% | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1.9% | 1% | |
| Xendpay | Not available | 0.2% | 2.3% | 0.2% | 2.3% | |
| Transfast | 2.1% | Not available | 0.9% | Not available | Not available | |
| Remit2India | 2.5% | 2.1% | 2% | 1.9% | 2.4% | |
| XE Trade | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 2.9% | |
| Zenbanx | 3.1% | Not available | 1.9% | Not available | Not available | |
| Payoneer | 3.1% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| MoneyGram | 1.5% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 5.8% | 3.1% | |
| Xpress Money | 1.7% | 2.2% | 1.6% | 3.7% | 3.9% | |
| Exchange4free | Not available | 2.4% | 2.1% | 2.5% | 2.4% | |
| Wire transfer | 2.5-5.5% | 2-4.5% | 2.5-5.5% | 2-4.5% | 3-6.5% | |
| Travelex | 15.1% | Not available | 14.3% | 15.7% | 10% | |
Transferring Money with Wise (formerly TransferWise)
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Rob Rawson is a co-founder of Time Doctor which is software to improve work productivity and help keep track of what your team is working on, even when working remotely.
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Nice blog, very helpful details. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
My Parents are in Delhi, India and I've been sending money to them on a monthly basis from the past 7 years and I've tried TransferWise, Payoneer, MoneyGram, Remitly, PayPal and WU. But I would vote up TransferWise any given day. TransferWise is anytime better than any other in terms of everything, beat security, dashboard, time, support or user friendliness. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
This is very useful article! UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Valuable details shared. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
What's up, yeah this piece of writing is genuinely good and I have learned lot of things from it about blogging. thanks. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
I am really very happy by reading this informative blog regarding What’s the Cheapest Way to Send Money to India?. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Thanks .....Helpful Article.....TransferWise I think is the BEST..... UpVote 0 Upvotes -
I think for the average Indian guy living in North America or Europe, your best bet is TransferWise or WorldRemit. I've used these two consistently and it works well. For Worldremit, there might be some restrictions depending on where you live in the US, while for Transferwise, it is easier to use for all foreigners living in the US. What often happens is that the first transfer could take some hours to execute due to background checks and all to be sure, you're the one making the transfer. UpVote 2 Upvotes -
This is an exhaustive list of ways to send money to India. Please confirm whether these percentages remain same or might change. If they change, then what factors cause change in these percentages. UpVote 3 Upvotes -
what about the paypal ??? UpVote 7 Upvotes -
PayPal sucks big time. Huge fees. Poor Customer Support. More hidden fees. Very poor Forex rates. Again, Poor Customer Support. Useless for sending or receiving fees. UpVote 1 Upvotes
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Thanks for the article! Could you mention the ways to send money FROM India also? UpVote 7 Upvotes -
Have you heard about Cashaa which transfers money globally that too free of cost with no hidden charges included and also in less time. Cashaa is powered by Blockchain which makes your money transfer easy and quick. UpVote 1 Upvotes -
Great, thanks ! There are a few other efficient operators that you could list. There is also an easy way to compare them in real-time through a comparison widget such as moneytis comparison widget UpVote 1 Upvotes -
interesting article. I would also use a complementary service to be sure to have a good timing for the exchange rate at the moment of the transaction. Indeed the mid-market exchange rate is moving a lot, especially between the USA and India, and when there are significant changes it can affect the amount we receive. neomy.io does this kind of alerts, same for TransFW and some comparison services UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Very informative article! UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Hello ! Thanks for this valuable & exhaustive information ! If you want to do a money transfer comparison in one-click, you can try to use Moneytis it will help you to find the cheapest way to send money to any country ! UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Just wanted to say thank you for sharing such powerful information. Following your simple ideas I’ve learnt a huge amount and made very profitable trades consistently. online money transfer => CurrencyKart.com Thanks UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Great article! Really useful! Will be adding some of these exchange services to our site Transumo :) Thanks for putting these together. Wasn't familiar with a lot of them. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Use Transferwise . There will be no fee and you best part is you will not lose single cent. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Have you checked any of new companies ? Perhaps it's time to refresh this article? Can you tell if with any of the companies you checked there's a discount for large amounts (for businesses that work with India, emigration, property investment etc.)? With commercial foreign exchange companies you can haggle your price on the phone and get to potentially lower markups, or so it is stated here. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Hello Rob and thank you for your response. The thing about currency exchange rates is that they change so quickly. This is why these companies don't advertise them. The process is a tad different than with Transferwise. You just put your details, ask for a callback, and when they call you, you can get an initial quote. Now, these quotes won't be anywhere as near as good as Transferwise's for small transfers, but when you talk about emigration, property, business, luxury buying - i.e. need to transfer tens, or hundreds of thousands, the picture changes dramatically. Depending on several factors like currency volatility, country risk, and most importantly volumes - you can potentially get much better quotes. Beyond pricing, they provide services the pure-online platforms don't . First one being a dedicated dealer that can help you execute the transfer safely, but also in favorable conditions. He can provide expert advice on the right timing to make the transfer based on your individual needs. He can help you with advanced hedging options (if you need to make several payment installments, and lock current rates). The companies mentioned in the article I provided are far larger than Transferwise, and operating for 10-35 years now. As a professional in the field I definitely hate to see this wonderful service which is hardly covered by media. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
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Ok that's great information to know about, thanks for your comment. UpVote 0 Upvotes
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Hi James, we tried to get rates for these companies but we are not confident in the rates provided on their website without actually doing a transfer through these services. So unfortunately were not able to add them to the article at this stage. If you have any direct experience with them please let me know the actual rate that you got. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
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We will add these to the article. I'm not aware of stated discounts for large amounts, I think you can certainly try and ask for a discount. UpVote 0 Upvotes
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Thanks for the information! I find it very useful. Please add Indusfastremit also to the list. I found that it is cheaper to transfer to India. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Nice article with useful Information. Thanks! UpVote 0 Upvotes -
A little disappointed to not see Xoom among the list. I have been using xoom.com for a while to transfer money from the US to India. Had a pleasant experience with Xoom so far. A great 24/7 customer service coupled with highly user-friendly interface makes Xoom stand out from others. With Xoom, one can transfer money instantly, in a jiffy, to most banks in India. Most of my transfers reached within 2 mins. On top of instant deposits, Xoom is now offering best exchange rates ever - one more reason to recommend Xoom. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Friends any body not happy with Xoom or transwise Please come forward UpVote 0 Upvotes -
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HI there, we will definitely add Xoom to the list thanks for your comment UpVote 0 Upvotes
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Nice article UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Hey Guys, for everyone who wants to send money abroad I use TransferWise. It’s the most convenient and cheaper way that I found. It’s the only company that gives you the same xe rate with 0,5% fee( no hidden charges likes banks do) . I was using bank to bank before always less, not the rates they display. Transferwise is started by the founders of skype and paypal. It uses peer-to-peer system, innovative way of transferring money. Its far far better than abanks ot any other service. use the below link for your first transfer for free upto £3000: transferwise.com/chandra UpVote 0 Upvotes -
TransferWise & Western union is best . UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Nice article, didn't know there were so many options available UpVote 0 Upvotes -
Hi Rob, Great info - thanks for pulling it together! It is actually quite hard to compare providers as their FX markups (your "Hidden currency conversion cost") have significant daily fluctuations. Plus some providers periodically change fees. Using advanced analytics, we built a simple tool to estimate total margin (FX markup plus fee) and predict the least expensive provider on any given day. Best regards, Yakov UpVote 0 Upvotes -
You are right. UpVote 0 Upvotes -
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It's great that you are providing this information and I think there is definitely the need for this information. My feedback is that: a) It's hard for me to know which countries you have as I don't understand all the flags b) It's hard for people to know if they need to select bank account or credit card as they might not know. Overall I think there is lots of potential for this information but people really want to know: 1. What is the cheapest method to send money 2. What is the cheapest method to send money FAST There are a few other things like what about if you're sending a lot of money ($100,000 for example) but we actually created another article on this and usually that's for within USA to UK or standard currencies which is much easier to handle as there are lots of options. UpVote 0 Upvotes
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