Saturday, January 31, 2009

How to Send Money to India

By Chloe Banks

A frequent question asked by family in the U.S. is "How do I send money to my relatives back in India?"

There are several ways to send money to India. The amount of time it takes, along with cost and level of security vary for each service.

When remittances to India are processed through on-line/real-time facilities such as ATM Cash, the money is made available to the recipient in India virtually instantaneously since the credit to his/her deposit account is posted in real time.

On-line services allow you to transfer money to family in India 24/7 from your own computer and ensure that the money gets to the recipient as soon as possible.

If the recipient is a family member or someone trusted, an ATM or debit card linked to your checking or savings account is another way to send money to India quickly.

As long as you are comfortable with the recipient having access to your account at all times, they could have a card and PIN number so that they could have access to cash through an ATM machine.

If you would like the recipient to have a card linked to your account but do not want them to have unlimited access to the funds, then a pre-paid debit card is another alternative. The debit card works just like an ATM card except that the recipient will not have access to the money until you have re-filled the debit card.

Another way that many people find useful in sending money to India is through opening an account with a bank that has branches in both India and the U.S. This way you can ensure easier withdrawals or transfers.

These are just some of the ways in which you can send money home to family in India. - 15224

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