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I am planning to transfer money from NRE savings account in SBI to Regions bank.

Anybody done this recently, how do we know the exchange rate we will get since theoretically we are transferring rupee to USA, where Regions bank may give whatever is their exchange rate?

Will SBI convert rupee into USD as per their exchange rate before transfer?

If not, then the another option maybe to open a foreign currency account with SBI itself (FCNR) and convert the rupee to usd before transferring?

SBI will convert and transfer dollars to USA when you transfer from NRE account. For the rate, call your NRI relationship manager and ask him the rate on the day you want to transfer. You will not get the spot rate but a lower rate and it will be based on amount of money you want to transfer

Not a good time to convert INR to USD when its very low. Wait for it to recover , which will require some patience. IMO currencies are cyclical.
Disclaimer- its a wild guess not financial advice

Considering that last time it was at 68 was in 2013, five years ago, not sure if the current price of 67-68 is low for near term.

In 2-3 years we maybe knocking on 70+.

Also keep in mind, US rate cycle is still going upward a big head wind to emerging economy currencies.

My biggest problem with Indian banks is the pain in dealing with them, annual KYC with crappy rules and no care for customers, also the FRDI bill puts the whole security of our deposit into a big question mark.

I hate to close the FDs I have, since I still have 5 more year in the term and I get close to 10% compounded.

punjabi;675734Not a good time to convert INR to USD when its very low. Wait for it to recover , which will require some patience. IMO currencies are cyclical.
Disclaimer- its a wild guess not financial advice

onlineSBI has now an option for outward remittances. You can add US beneficiary bank and transfer the money online.

I have tried to test it and added my WellsFargo account to it. It asks for some details of beneficiary bank which you can easily get from your local bank.

Only problem is SBI sucks big time.

I have an account at one of the specialized NRI branches. After I initiated the transfer I got a confirmation SMS after a month letting me know that transfer is now complete, while there was no actual movement of funds anywhere. So I sent an email to the branch manager CC'ing regional manager who addresses complaints (emails to branch manager are promptly ignored), about the issue. Branch manager called within few hours apologizing on behalf of their computer servers, asking if I still want to go ahead with the transfer, she can make it happen. I politely declined since the exchanged rate had moved from 64-65 to ~69 in-between

I have personally been to this "specialized NRI branch" which is bang opposite to the State Assembly. At the time it was manned 3-4 employees who seem to get paid for simply staring at the door all day, and if by mistake someone walks in they just shoo them away saying this is not a normal branch..their regular branch is right from here, left from there etc. Then they go back to their job of staring at the door. Though I was able to get one DD after 6hrs of struggle with the printer, thankfully guard-saab of the bank was able to figure out how to make the dot-matrix printer work.

If I watching something like this in a movie, I would never believe this could happen in real life.

Not sure about bank but last week at airport currency exchange converting dollar @62-63 range and if you need to convert rupee to dollar it was @72
no clue @which rate your bank will convert NRE deposits to your US bank

I have about 3 to 4 crores expected to be in bank in next 3 months or so. I don't know what rate these guys will give me. I want to transfer these to USA as i do not directly invest in India or have a desire to.

plansup;675738
If I watching something like this in a movie, I would never believe this could happen in real life.

Funny you should mention that. I compare my similar experience with other Banks, Builders CRM almost any govt office in India with this scene from zootopia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SmyATAYsNs

Me and my daughter we copy and compare the office on sloth scale and try to give a funny turn to these experiences.

I think this may be the best rate and it is going to go much lower, it will not surprise me to see 72 by next year around election time, we may see 70 much earlier than 2-3 years. I always felt there is no better time to convert to $ anytime you need it. Just a wild guess, but we will see what happens...

techynt;675737Considering that last time it was at 68 was in 2013, five years ago, not sure if the current price of 67-68 is low for near term.

In 2-3 years we maybe knocking on 70+.

Also keep in mind, US rate cycle is still going upward a big head wind to emerging economy currencies.

My biggest problem with Indian banks is the pain in dealing with them, annual KYC with crappy rules and no care for customers, also the FRDI bill puts the whole security of our deposit into a big question mark.

I hate to close the FDs I have, since I still have 5 more year in the term and I get close to 10% compounded.

plansup;675738onlineSBI has now an option for outward remittances. You can add US beneficiary bank and transfer the money online. Only problem is SBI sucks big time.

If you are getting this money in Rupees from someone like your parents, you can have them wire the money directly to your US bank account and skip using your NRE account. My parents used SBI, and they used the Liberalized remittance scheme to wire the money. SBI folks helped them with forms and everything, I just had to provide the details to receive international wire. Very easy process upto the limits specified in this scheme.