Setting up a monthly money transfer to India

T

TwoWheels

Registered User
Messages
133
Hi all,
How would I go about transferring a relatively small sum (€50) every month to an Indian bank account ?
Is it as easy as setting one up within Ireland?
Will there be fees?, If so, will it be a setting up fee, or a monthly fee?

Thanks for any advice.
 
I was able to set up an international transfer facility in Bank of Ireland. I used the online banking system, and filled in the required details. As a security precaution, the bank sent me a letter with a code to activate the account. It took about a week to set it all up. Now I can transfer cash to the other account whenever I like. It takes 3 days for the transfer to show up in the other account. There was no set-up fee, but there is a fee of €5 per transaction on BOI's side, and the other account deducts $10 from each lodgement. Other banks may vary, but that's been my own personal experience. Hope it helps.
 
Celtwytch said:
I was able to set up an international transfer facility in Bank of Ireland. I used the online banking system, and filled in the required details. As a security precaution, the bank sent me a letter with a code to activate the account. It took about a week to set it all up. Now I can transfer cash to the other account whenever I like. It takes 3 days for the transfer to show up in the other account. There was no set-up fee, but there is a fee of €5 per transaction on BOI's side, and the other account deducts $10 from each lodgement. Other banks may vary, but that's been my own personal experience. Hope it helps.
Click to expand...

What country was that to?
It would be a big chunk of the €50 if there was €5+$10 deducted from it..

How much would it cost the reciepient if I was to post a BOI cheque to him to lodge in his India bank ?
 
TwoWheels said:
What country was that to?
It would be a big chunk of the €50 if there was €5+$10 deducted from it..

How much would it cost the reciepient if I was to post a BOI cheque to him to lodge in his India bank ?
Click to expand...

Possibly more than €50. The Indian bank would have to send the cheque back to BoI in Ireland to get confirmation of payment. BoI would then send the funds, electronically, back to the Indian bank. All of which builds up the cost.
 
TwoWheels said:
What country was that to?
It would be a big chunk of the €50 if there was €5+$10 deducted from it..

How much would it cost the reciepient if I was to post a BOI cheque to him to lodge in his India bank ?
Click to expand...

Sorry - I should have said. It was Australia. If you could combine a few months' payments, rather than sending €50 per month it might be more economical for you.

I would be wary of sending Euro cheques to foreign countries - I tried that when sending money to America once, and the bank refused to accept the cheque. I wonder if you can get a bank draft in Indian currency (Rupees, isn't it?) as that might possibly be a cheaper way to send the money.
 
Celtwytch said:
I wonder if you can get a bank draft in Indian currency (Rupees, isn't it?) as that might possibly be a cheaper way to send the money.
Click to expand...

That could be the way to go alright,
The story is that I am sponsoring a friends daughter through school at the amount of €50 (3150 Rupees)per month.
So obviously the more of this that gets to him, the better.
 
Twowheels my husband is originally from India - I'll ask him for you tonight.

As far as I know the Indian banking system is a nightmare. We sent money to my brother in law a couple of years ago via transfer from our bank & although the money arrived OK they would not clear the funds for about 8 weeks. There is a lot of red tape to contend with (or else people to bribe!).
 
Thanks Aman, that would be much appreciated.
There must be a simple way of doing it, I would imagine there are thousands of Indian residents here who send money to their families in India on a monthly basis.
 
There will be fees no matter how you go about it, would Western Union or Paypal be an option?
Since it is a friend (unlikely to rip you off) it may be easier to simply make one transaction per year for 600€. In this case www.currencie.ie or www.xe.com are probably best.
 
Celtwytch said:
Sorry - I should have said. It was Australia. If you could combine a few months' payments, rather than sending €50 per month it might be more economical for you.

I would be wary of sending Euro cheques to foreign countries - I tried that when sending money to America once, and the bank refused to accept the cheque. I wonder if you can get a bank draft in Indian currency (Rupees, isn't it?) as that might possibly be a cheaper way to send the money.
Click to expand...

I frequently send money across to India and find it best to get a INR draft in the bank here (€4.50 ish) and send it across by regd post (€5ish) directly to my bank in India. This takes about 7-10 days for the amount to be credited to my account. Most Irish banks make it payable in Mumbai, so outstation collection charges of around INR 100-150 may be deducted if the Indian Account is held in a city other than Mumbai.. The advantage is that I know the exchange rate I'm getting at the time the draft is obtained.

Having said that €50 transferred on a monthly basis via any medium is far too less after charges to make it worthwhile.. Exchange rates tend to be attractive for higher value transactions (ie you get a better rate for €500 and over and an even better one for €5000 and over) so accumulating it to at least €500 or over and transferring it would be advisable..
 
ClubMan said:
Maybe try Transfermate/www.currency.ie ?
Click to expand...

I have an active XE currency trade account (similar to Currency.ie), and I make it a point to check their exchange rate offered before any FX transactions, but my bank (AIB) have offered me better exchange rates every time.. XE cannot accomodate an online trade for INR anyway, have to call cust service for INR trades..

Just a personal experience, could still be worth it for OP to check with currency.ie.
 
I found Transfermate/currency.ie better value (on rates and charges) than both XETrade and local banks. I also found it less hassle to deal with Transfermate than to open an account with XETrade or get accurate forex rate info from local banks. In any case every time I checked Transfermate were offering the best all round deal.
 
I just talked with an Indian colleague who regularly sends money home.

He (and many of his Indian friends & colleagues in Ireland) has a beneficiary set-up, using AIB's online service, to a branch of Deutchse (sp?) Bank in Frankfurt. When making payments, he quotes a reference number.

That number has been issued to him by an Indian bank HDFC. They have a correspondent relationship with D Bank and clear the payment onto the destination Indian bank. He is registered with HDFC, but not with D Bank.

The payments take 3 days to travel. The Euro to Euro payment bears no charge, while the commission in India is 25 rupees (approx 50c).
 
Oh dear, This is getting complicated...
I have agreed to sponsor my friends daughter through school, She is six years old and I volunteered to do this acting on my observations (Which were confirmed by her mother) that without help, she may not spend much more time in school, she will need to make a contribution to the household.
My friend is my driver in Hyderabad when I am there (Approx 3-4 trips of 2-3 weeks per time per year)
I have not been pressurised into this in any way, but after a long talk with my driver & his wife, my suggestion was gladly accepted after a (Theatrical) pride refusal.
I have made the rules clear, this is for the daughters education, nothing else, I have asked them to post me her report cards each half term.
This is not because I do not trust them, but because I want this sponsorship to go where I want it to, despite the families other financial needs.
I spoke briefly to him yesterday, (we have a proper lunch planned on Sunday before I leave to iron out the details) regarding this (I am in India at the moment) and asked him if he has a bank account, he said he used to have one, but is not sure if it is still active (However he does have a 5 year loan for his car, something else I will speak to him about, interest rates etc)
So as far as "Offshore" accounts etc would not really be an option.

What would be the real risks in posting a €50 note wrapped in a letter each month to India (Perhaps some of the above posters with Indian experience can answer)

Sorry for the long reply, but just wanted to put some substance behind the original post.

TW.

Oh, edit..
So with all the above in mind, sending one bulk payment each year / six months will not meet what we want to do.
 
Thank you for explaining why you wish to send this amount to India each month. You are doing something really good, and I wish you well with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top