What’s the Cheapest Way to Send Money to India?

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.

What transfer methods do we use at Time Doctor?

We have a remote team with people in 19 different countries around the world. The two transfer methods we use the most are:

• Payoneer – very convenient for sending and receiving. They are also one of the few methods that works to receive money in almost every country and the receiver can get their money on a debit card and withdraw from an ATM. They also have an option for direct transfer to the receiver’s bank account. They also have a $50 bonus if you receive more than $100 through this method.
• TransferWise – is a new kind of financial company that you can use to transfer money internationally at a very low cost. Their system is based on local bank account transfers, which makes transfers abroad cheaper than what banks or other providers charge. They charge a small upfront fee between 0.5% and 2% for transactions, depending on the route.

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
TransferWise	$9	$0	$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

Notes:

• Worldremit is offering their services only from the following states of US:
  District of Columbia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
• If you’re not sure what I mean by “hidden currency exchange fees” check out our explanation in this article.
• The fees for wire transfers are estimates and vary from bank to bank.
• Minimum transfer of $500 for OFX (previously USForex).

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
TransferWise	0.9%	0.7%	1.2%	0.7%	0.7%
OFX (previously USForex), UKForex, CanadianForex, OFX (previously OzForex)	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%
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%

Note:

• OFX (previously OzForex) is a good option for sending larger amounts of money and their exchange rate fee goes down for larger amounts.
• Minimum transfer of $500/£500 for OFX/CanadianForex/UKForex.

Other articles that might interest you:

Transferring Money with TransferWise
What is the Cheapest Way to Send Money to Indonesia?
Compare Hidden Exchange Fees When Sending Money to Bangladesh