SBI Express remit no longer an option - What other choice?

gcretro · Post by **gcretro** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:44 am

I have an NRE account with SBI, Chennai.

I see that SBI express remit no longer allows for ACH transfer.

What other options are there for ACH transfer? that's safe/reliable.

Thx

gau213 · Post by **gau213** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:58 am

I have a checking/savings account with SBI-Chicago that I use to transfer money to my NRE account back in India. It is safe, rates are good and transfers are super fast (less than 12 hrs). The rates are known in advance (can be checked online) and are not indicative. Before initiating the remittance, you need to have money in your SBI-Chicago that you can do using ACH transfer.

sansar11 · Post by **sansar11** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:24 pm

I have used remit2india which is safe and has good rates. They say it takes 3 days, but took me a week to get the money in India. If time is not big factor, this is a good option and you can transfer money from any a/c in US to India.

gcretro · Post by **gcretro** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:03 am

gau213;411665I have a checking/savings account with SBI-Chicago that I use to transfer money to my NRE account back in India. It is safe, rates are good and transfers are super fast (less than 12 hrs). The rates are known in advance (can be checked online) and are not indicative. Before initiating the remittance, you need to have money in your SBI-Chicago that you can do using ACH transfer.

So I need to open a checking account with SBI Chicago? to be able to xfer $ to my NR account with SBI in India...

trinity101 · Post by **trinity101** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:53 am

I found xoom pretty good. I transferred money 2 days back that got practically deposited within 14 hours with the exchanged rate promised, no game playing with an "indicative rate" like some other websites. There was no fees as well ... and I also got $15 as referral bonus using this link http://xoom.tellapal.com/a/clk/1ZM88
I was thinking to wait a little more, but experts are saying to transfer without waiting further.

gau213 · Post by **gau213** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:52 pm

With this route .. yes but there are quite a few advantages of going through this one time process. The good rates (known in advance) and speed of transfer makes this my preferred choice. The rates are 30-40 paise better than most other fixed rate options (xoom, icici fixed rupee., etc.) and are at par with most publicized indicative rates.

arukish · Post by **arukish** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 2:03 pm

I have been using citibank money transfer service.it is fast and gives good exchange rate.
https://us.citionlineremit.in/

cmdrsk · Post by **cmdrsk** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:19 am

SBI remit is still available, the issues is which state you live in. The regulatory approval are State specific.
It did nto work for Missouri but works in Michigan state.

ZOOM is very good 24 hrs deposit in india but gives may ba abt 50c less on converstion. HDFC also is best rate compared to SBI , ICICI, XOOM.

Advatnage with ZOOM is 24 hours ( weekend hv to wait until monday) exchange rate itself can drop down th enext day so overall ZOOM is best.

raj779 · Post by **raj779** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:26 pm

SBI express remit using ACH has a limitation that one cannot transfer more than $100,000 from US to India in a year, this is a problem for people who are moving back to India permanently and want to use SBI Express remit via ACH to transfer money.
Is this limit set by SBI or is there some "RULE" than one cannot transfer more than $100,000 from US to India in a year ?

cmdrsk · Post by **cmdrsk** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:43 pm

If the objectice is move large amount in one transaction , its not suggested. FBAR requirement alo needs to be considered.

If anyone is R2I after long time I am sure one must have a good banking relation in india with any back. If this is true I am sure you can deposite a US bank check direct into yr Indian bank acct. Depending on the Acct/bank/people/manager relationship they can credit you same day wihtout waiting for chek clearance.

I have done several intstances in public sector bank in india.