How to Send Money to India Cheap and Fast

Available Options

Which are the most efficient, fast, affordable, and secure ways to send money to India from any country around the globe?

Bank Transfer

You can use your local banking services to transfer money to an account in India. Bank transfers will require your personal information, such as your name or address, the financial institution where the money is being sent and the IBAN or SWIFT code of the recipient bank.

Wire Transfer

As the sender, you will need to visit an institution such as a bank or other agencies like Western Union or Remit2India, to send the money. Similarly, the institution will require information about the recipient and their bank or another facility. After the money is sent, the receiver sends a message to the receiving institution. However, the process might take a few days.

Money Transfer Apps

Using this method, you can choose from many available payment options, including credit, debit cards, bank transfers, Apple or Android pay, etc. If your recipient has a bank account, you may send the money directly to their account, although if they don’t, you may send it via cash pickup or through mobile payment.

Cheapest Way to Send Money to India

Furthermore, both bank and wire transfers are methods of moving funds electronically from one account to another. In general, wire transfers are faster than bank transfers. However, they are more expensive and less secure.

Bank transfers have the advantage of being cheaper and more secure than wire transfers. Still, banks charge for outgoing and incoming transfers. The most negligible fees are for incoming domestic transfers, accounting for approximately $15, which is not that low. And when it comes to outgoing and international transactions, the fees lead up to $40 or more.

Comparatively, money transfer apps are considered as the cheapest alternative. Dedicated money transfer apps have a flat rate fee that won’t change regarding the amount of cash sent.

Fastest Way to Send Money to India

Banks and wire transfers might take up to several days to process a transaction. Fortunately, most money transfer apps don’t rely on banks and can process transactions in only a few minutes, where the receiver may withdraw the money within the day.  

Best Way to Send Money to India from Specific Countries

Below, we will be showing you how to send money to India from specific countries.

Send Money to India from USA

If you are looking to send money from USA to India, Revolut is the best choice. For example, if you send $1,000, the receiver will get the money within the day, and you will only pay a $3.00 transaction fee (at the time of writing).

Although, the fastest and cheapest way to send money from India to USA is through Western Union. There are no fees attached to the transaction, and the receiver will have their cash within 1 business day.

Send Money to India from UK

Transfergo only charges a fee of 1.99 Pounds if you send 1,000 Pounds to India. Furthermore, the receiver will have the money deposited into their account within 6 hours after the transfer.  

Next, Ria will charge a similar fee and process the transaction with little to no fees.

Once again, Western Union is the best alternative to send money from India to UK.

Send Money to India from Canada

Using the “Direct Debit” payment method, Wise will allow you to transfer 1,000 CAD to India for a fee of only 9.46 CAD, with an arrival period of 3 hours.

Furthermore, again, Western Union is considered the best option to send money from India to Canada.

Final Thought – The Ultimate Option

As noted, you can use different money transfer apps for sending money to India and vice-versa. Since transfer methods are changing rapidly, it would be best to use our innovative comparison tool, to find out which money transferring apps are the cheapest and fastest for you.