Sending Money to India

[Nina~ 431]

A very dear childhood friend of mine is getting married in India. I want to send her a one-time monetary gift. What is the cheapest and safest way to send her the money?

I appreciate all your help.

[CTRL+ALT+DEL 1]

paypal

u can goto your bank and do a wire transfer. it cost $10-25

u can also send american express travelers checks i think somehow

or send a 'demand draft' from your bank

or u can get a visa debit gift card and send that

[ELW 5]

Safest, fastest and cheapest way we found is through Western Union Money Transfer "Money in Minutes". Just cost $10 for amounts up to $500 ($15 up to $1000, I think). They are omnipresent both here in USA and in India. Can even send it online at home (I've done that several times.) My husband has sent dozens of monetary gifts to friends and relatives in various places (including villages) in India and they always pick it up immediately, with no problem at all.

Note on bank transfer: I was living in India working at a non-profit and whenever anyone tried bank transfers to donate to us (US and other countries to India), it was ALWAYS a headache. It took a month to get the money! The bank people would say the funds had to be "cleared" like when checks are sent by mail.

[Arun+Catie 1]

use ICICIBANK moneytoindia, they charge only $2 for $100 to $1000 and from $1000 and up is free. I use them all the time and get best out of it. the only problem is, it has to be at least $100.

[Nina~ 431]

Thank you for your replies guys. I do not know her bank a/c and I am really not comfortable in asking her for the info. I thought about the prepaid Amex/visa cards, but I am worried about it falling into the wrong hands. So I am really leaning towards Western Union. I just need her name & address for Western Union right?

[ELW 5]

Full name and city is all you need for Western Union, you don't even need the street address. In India, they will ask for her ID and the code number (Money Transfer Control Number - you will get that when you send the money, and can call up on the phone to give her the code or email it or text it).

[trinket 30]

Full name and city is all you need for Western Union, you don't even need the street address. In India, they will ask for her ID and the code number (Money Transfer Control Number - you will get that when you send the money, and can call up on the phone to give her the code or email it or text it).

that's right.

[Nina~ 431]

Thank you for all your input!!!

[bobby_kvisa 7]

Just to post my experience - I was able to send money to my wife in India using Money Gram - www.moneygram.com

The fees vary depending on how much you want to send (similar to Western Union system) - and the fees are more expensive than all the new services out there (Citi Online Remit, ICICI Bank Money Transfer, Xoom.com, etc).

All you have to do is provide the name of the person you want to send it to and the country they are in. Then they simply have to go to any Money Gram location with an acceptable Govt ID (Passport, PAN Card, etc) and they will get the money.

It only takes minutes to transfer because you pay in cash at the Money Gram location - but it can take up to 2 hours of waiting at the Money Gram location for the receiver to actually pick the money up. It just depends on the processing in India and the verification they perform.

[Harsh_77 716]

Just FYI dont to Amex gift card do either VISA or Master.

Amex is not widely accepted in India.

[^_^ 5,021]

I use Western Union.