Most Reasonable way to Remit money to India

[midlet2013]

Hi

Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

I need to urgently Remit some money to India but I have never done it before. OCBC quoted an exorbitant service fee (12% of the amount + Other costs). This sounds too high.

Can some people share their methods of remittance.

I have an account with HDFC in India (NRO.NRE) but rarely use it.

Thanks
S

[zzm9980]

Check out the one that DBS has for their account holders. When you log in, it's under "DBS India Remittance" under transfers.

I've never used it for India, but i've been told the DBS Indonesia one (also specifically branded on their website like DBS India) is quite inexpensive.

[nakatago]

How urgent is urgent? Remittance centers in the cultural location* of your choice (Little India, I guess?) would charge less (~5 bucks, I think). You have to be physically present at their place though.

[midlet2013]

thanks, i saw the DBS India. Also HDFC has something called QuickRemit.

its not that urgent . i can do it within a week so it should be okay.

thanks guys

[rajagainstthemachine]

Citibank offers free transfers between any of its branches, I use that to transfer money between my Singapore and India Citibank accounts.

[nakatago]

Citibank offers free transfers between any of its branches, I use that to transfer money between my Singapore and India Citibank accounts.

This is more of an FYI for future reference at this point.

[midlet2013]

Ya, i do have citibank credit card but dont have accounts.

I usually do not remit money to India. But 2 years back,I opened an NRO/NRE account which has gone dormant due to inactivity. Now, I need to make some transactions to activate them. My account is with Indian bank HDFC.

OCBC quoted very high service fee so I am surveying methods to remit money to India efficiently in future. I am not considering opening accounts with DBS which will help me use HDFC's QuickRemit and also direct transfer if I need using DBS India Remit Scheme.

Citibank offers free transfers between any of its branches, I use that to transfer money between my Singapore and India Citibank accounts.

This is more of an FYI for future reference at this point.

[Wd40]

Initially I used ICICI moneytoindia, but DBS is instantaneous so I always use them, since last 3 years. I have transferred atleast 200K SGD through them. They have made atleast $2000 profit from me. Thats probably the only time a financial institution has made so much money from me.

[midlet2013]

So, u transfer from DBS Singapore to some other local bank in India ??

I know that HDFC QuickRemit allows one to transfer from DBS to HDFC in India.

I am going to open a DBS account

Initially I used ICICI moneytoindia, but DBS is instantaneous so I always use them, since last 3 years. I have transferred atleast 200K SGD through them. They have made atleast $2000 profit from me. Thats probably the only time a financial institution has made so much money from me.

[Wd40]

Yes, from DBS India remit, you can transfer to any bank account in India. Its instantaneous. Also there are no limits. ICICI used to drive me crazy with limits.

[midlet2013]

Thanks. I set up an appoitment for opening a DBS acc today. I will use HDFC QuickRemit or DBS India Remit.

On a side note, I want to learn about Insurance (Medical/Life).

My wife and I are PR so we have company insurance as well as the basic Medishield/Medisave thing. But I am not too familiar with these things and never needed any big medical claims.

What kind of Life Insurance or Medical Insurance do people take usually ?? Should we consider taking Extra Life/Medical Insurance ??

Yes, from DBS India remit, you can transfer to any bank account in India. Its instantaneous. Also there are no limits. ICICI used to drive me crazy with limits.

[the lynx]

On a side note, I want to learn about Insurance (Medical/Life).

My wife and I are PR so we have company insurance as well as the basic Medishield/Medisave thing. But I am not too familiar with these things and never needed any big medical claims.

What kind of Life Insurance or Medical Insurance do people take usually ?? Should we consider taking Extra Life/Medical Insurance ??

You can check out other threads in Search function in this forum. Quite a number of people have asked and discussed about insurance and the pros and cons of taking extra life/medical insurance.

Insurance agents will always say it is better to have extra
And that your company's plan + Medishield may not be sufficient and that you need a supplement on top of those. If I were you, I'd stick to those.

If you're relatively healthy, basic ones will do.