Money to US

[eng_harsh]

Ok, I researched some more on the options and here come the conclusions:

1) For depositing the fees, wire transfer is the most affordable and conveneint option. Again charges vary, here are teh best rates:

i) SBI offers the best rate. They charge Rs.770 for wire transfer + they have the best exchange rate. On one typical day, they were giving 1 GBP = Rs. 85.2 as against HDFC Bank's Rs.86.1, ICICI bank's Rs. 86.4 and money changer's Rs.88. So you will save around Rs. 4000-5000 here for fees in exchange rate only.

ii) Next best option is HDFC Bank. They charge you Rs. 200 only for wire transfer + 2nd best exchange rate.

2) Get a International ATM forex card(pre loaded International card) from HDFC or ICICI bank for daily expenses as you don't need to carry more cash/TC's and charges are pretty decent- Rs. 80 per transaction for HDFC
bank card and Rs. 70 for ICICI bank forex card.

Hope it helps,
Harsh

Originally Posted by mbabuster

Hi MBA11,
I am seriously considering your option 1 so looking for some data on the fees associated with this option. You mentioned a 2$ withdrawal fee , now since I need to move approx 45K$ this would require some 42 withdrawals since the limit is set at 50K Rs . So this would mean a total cost of 84$ for transferring all the money to US ( provided the dollar remains the same value vs rupee ) .

Now the wire transfer option costs 1200 Rs to send the money to the US and 10$ incoming wire charge in the US bank. That's a total of 40$ approx.

Now still option 1 is more convenient for me since it means my money can stay in India and thus take advantage of higher interest rates in india but my question is : Are there any other hidden charges in option 1 ? ( in ICICI website I found a 3.5% charge on conversion when using travelers card (ICICI Bank Travel Card Benefits | Travel Card Information | Travel Card in India ) , is the same levied on debit cards ?

Any help will be welcome from existing students in the US

[Azazel_666]

I personally used the global money card from SBI partnered with Thomas Cook. The operations are fairly straight forward; you deposit money in the account in INR and withdraw in any ATM in the US. You get the best exchange rates and no extra fee. Of course you do pay the ATM withdrawal fee.

[mbabuster]

Originally Posted by Azazel_666

I personally used the global money card from SBI partnered with Thomas Cook. The operations are fairly straight forward; you deposit money in the account in INR and withdraw in any ATM in the US. You get the best exchange rates and no extra fee. Of course you do pay the ATM withdrawal fee.

How much were the ATM transaction fees ??

[Azazel_666]

Originally Posted by mbabuster

How much were the ATM transaction fees ??

It was USD 2 and a balance inquiry would set you back 75 cents

[mbabuster]

Originally Posted by Azazel_666

It was USD 2 and a balance inquiry would set you back 75 cents

Thx, but one more question , Whats the difference between a international SBI card and my international (indian ICICI bank account) debit card ? are there some hidden charges in the debit card withdrawals ?

[sarathr123]

Can anyone tell what is the exchange rate charged and other charges if any, when the SBI International debit card is used for making ATM withdrawals in US? Is the exchange rate same as the TT rate?

[eng_harsh]

If you use any International debit card you will have to fork out home country bank charges(typically Rs. 120) + Foreign country bank charges since that bank will consider your card as foreign card and can levy extra charges.

Not sure about your question though. But my guess is they won't give you TT charges - they are the lowest. You usually get TC charges for International forex card and cash charges for International debit card.

Typically - Cash charges > TC charges > TT charges.
HDFC bank forex card charges you TC charges for International forex card for non-hdfc account holders and TC charges - 0.1 for HDFC account holders.
Guys, please look at these charges(Cash exchange rate/ TC exchange rate/ TT exchange rate) very carefully. They can easily set you back by 10,000 bucks easily.

Originally Posted by sarathr123

Can anyone tell what is the exchange rate charged and other charges if any, when the SBI International debit card is used for making ATM withdrawals in US? Is the exchange rate same as the TT rate?