Expatica Community | The Expat Social Network

Forums » Netherlands » Indians in the Netherlands

Back To Topics

Money Transfer

irissunshine
March 1, 2009 12:37:04 AM CET

Hi
I tried transferring about 100 Euros from ABN Amro to my bank in India. When the money got converted into INR and reached my account i lost close to 1700rs + a 5 euro fee at the bank.

Remit to India and other small players look very dicey

Can anyone suggest the best and the cheapest way to transfer funds to India

Regards
Iris
vikidesi
March 1, 2009 11:56:10 AM CET

See this
irissunshine
March 1, 2009 3:32:32 PM CET

vikidesi (Mar 1 2009, 10:56 AM) said: > original post
See this

Is it possible to transfer INR from here itself so you know what is the exchange rate at the time of transfer instead of transferring Euros and letting the receiving bank decide on the exchage rate on the date of receipt of funds. Please advise.
Fred
- 8 posts
March 1, 2009 4:50:52 PM CET

Hi Irissunshine,

Of course, it is possible to transfer INR from your Dutch bank to an Indian bank. But then you will end up paying around € 28 as transfer fee. Whereas, if you use your Indian bank’s correspondent bank in Europe for the transfer, you don’t pay any transfer fee (fund transfer within Europe is free). But transfer is done in Euros. Which is your bank in India ?

Regards,
sharsharav
- 12 posts
March 6, 2009 2:09:51 PM CET

Hi,

The best option is to transfer Euro & select the option "all transfer cost to benificiary".

Euro 5.5 will be deducted from your amount of transfer as service charge. Balance amount will be transfered to your account. The local(India) service cost may differ from bank to bank. specially HDFC, ICICI, Canarabank, SBI, no extra cost.

Be sure that you are providing the correct SWIFT code & correct branch address. SWIFT code can be collected from your Bank in India.

Regards

Saravanan Mani
satyap75
March 14, 2009 1:01:26 PM CET

sharsharav (Mar 6 2009, 01:09 PM) said: > original post
Hi,

The best option is to transfer Euro & select the option "all transfer cost to benificiary".

Euro 5.5 will be deducted from your amount of transfer as service charge. Balance amount will be transfered to your account. The local(India) service cost may differ from bank to bank. specially HDFC, ICICI, Canarabank, SBI, no extra cost.

Be sure that you are providing the correct SWIFT code & correct branch address. SWIFT code can be collected from your Bank in India.

Regards

Saravanan Mani

How does the receiving bank (for example ICICI or HDFC Bank) decides the excahnge rates. ? Does anybody have any idea?
welliamin
- 619 posts
March 14, 2009 5:02:36 PM CET

There are years long courses and very high paying investment banking jobs for people who understand the working of rates etc.

It is a very broad question. I shall put down something in common man's language -

Most banks declare the rates at which they've agreed to purchase or sell a country's currency. This changes depending on the international demand , supply amongst many other factors.
The difference between these two rates is known as the "spread" which is equal to the trader's gross margin. A larger spread implies a higher transaction cost, i.e., you pay more money for a given conversion. Basically, that is how banks make the money when you go them. It could differ from bank to bank. The best deal would be google FX rates to find more info of the same.

Good luck !
aashokprabhu
March 26, 2009 5:50:59 PM CET

The only best option to transfer funds is "MoneytoIndia" from ICICI.

https://m2inet.icicibank.co.in/m2iNet/m2iNetLoginForm.jsp

And in that only option available from Netherlands is power transfer.

Most of the people I know here are using this facility.
Even it allows you to transfer funds to non ICICI banks also. Exchange rates are really good. They dont charge any fee for 800 euros & above else just 2 euros for lesser amounts.

When you do the transfer using moneytoindia, it will give you a transactionid and details of ICICI bank's international money transfer account in JP Morgan germany. Usually it suggests you to fill in a hard capy with those details and asks your local bank to initiate a transfer. But that is not needed simply you can do an online transfer from your Netherlands bank account by providing the ICICI transactionid in the remarks for transaction.

Hope these details are sufficient.

Good Luck
welliamin
- 619 posts
March 26, 2009 9:20:14 PM CET

aashokprabhu (Mar 26 2009, 04:50 PM) said: > original post
The only best option to transfer funds is "MoneytoIndia" from ICICI.

https://m2inet.icicibank.co.in/m2iNet/m2iNetLoginForm.jsp

And in that only option available from Netherlands is power transfer.

Most of the people I know here are using this facility.
Even it allows you to transfer funds to non ICICI banks also. Exchange rates are really good. They dont charge any fee for 800 euros & above else just 2 euros for lesser amounts.

Good Luck

I assume you are trying to answer the post of initial poster and then also trying to answer that ICICI does not charge any fee and how do banks calculate the FX rates????

The first answer is fine. As I really would not go into FX rates that are offered by international banks here and then what they charge you and what rate you get etc etc.

But second answer is not correct. I have pointed this out many times earlier.

The banks mislead you when they say they are not charging anything. There is nothing called free lunch in the banking world. They make their profit while giving you the exchange rate.

They are not doing it for free.

They take your EURO , which is actually worth on BUY value for 63.5 or 64.25 or whatever on a given day. They give you a couple of INR lesser for the same. So, for eg 62.00 or 62.5. They already make a good 1.5 x 1000 or 1.75 x 1000 on a simple 1000 euro transfer. That is not all.

Then they sell your EURO on a SELL rate which is much higher like 66 or 67 to a tourist or company. So, they make again a profit of 3-4 INR by selling the same EURO.

Basically a profit of 4 to 6 INR on a single Euro that you transfer.

So, you know the calculation for a 1000 euro transfer.

If you transfer a 1000 euro and they say that we are not charging you anything or only 2 Euros if it is less than 800 euros. They are simply making use of the fact that you do not know banking.

Don't forget when you transfer 1000 Euros, bank receives the cash immediately. Sometimes , it takes 4-5 days or longer to receive the cash into your indian account. You are not the only one doing the transaction. Think of billions of Euros interest free with ICICI or anyother bank for such periods. That's another way they make money on your cash transfer. They are really not doing you a favour.
aashokprabhu
March 27, 2009 11:32:52 AM CET

welliamin (Mar 26 2009, 08:20 PM) said: > original post
I assume you are trying to answer the post of initial poster and then also trying to answer that ICICI does not charge any fee and how do banks calculate the FX rates????

The first answer is fine. As I really would not go into FX rates that are offered by international banks here and then what they charge you and what rate you get etc etc.

But second answer is not correct. I have pointed this out many times earlier.

The banks mislead you when they say they are not charging anything. There is nothing called free lunch in the banking world. They make their profit while giving you the exchange rate.

They are not doing it for free.

They take your EURO , which is actually worth on BUY value for 63.5 or 64.25 or whatever on a given day. They give you a couple of INR lesser for the same. So, for eg 62.00 or 62.5. They already make a good 1.5 x 1000 or 1.75 x 1000 on a simple 1000 euro transfer. That is not all.

Then they sell your EURO on a SELL rate which is much higher like 66 or 67 to a tourist or company. So, they make again a profit of 3-4 INR by selling the same EURO.

Basically a profit of 4 to 6 INR on a single Euro that you transfer.

So, you know the calculation for a 1000 euro transfer.

If you transfer a 1000 euro and they say that we are not charging you anything or only 2 Euros if it is less than 800 euros. They are simply making use of the fact that you do not know banking.

Don't forget when you transfer 1000 Euros, bank receives the cash immediately. Sometimes , it takes 4-5 days or longer to receive the cash into your indian account. You are not the only one doing the transaction. Think of billions of Euros interest free with ICICI or anyother bank for such periods. That's another way they make money on your cash transfer. They are really not doing you a favour.

You are right to some extent. I accept there is no free lunch. Banks are not doing any social service, its business & everybody runs business for profit. Those are all basic stuffs everybody knows.

But my point is transfering money through ABN Amro or any local dutch banks or other concepts to India costs you more than ICICI money to India.

And regarding the exchange rates, the exact foreign currencies rate with Indian rupee is given in RBI (reserve bank) site and moneytoindia has a exchange rate calculator you can check it , it is always similar to that. ICICI Bank usually buys euros at rates very similar to the RBI fixed buying rates. The profit they make is by selling our euros in selling rate which is higher than their buying price.
welliamin
- 619 posts
March 27, 2009 5:47:50 PM CET

aashokprabhu (Mar 27 2009, 10:32 AM) said: > original post
You are right to some extent. I accept there is no free lunch. Banks are not doing any social service, its business & everybody runs business for profit. Those are all basic stuffs everybody knows.

But my point is transfering money through ABN Amro or any local dutch banks or other concepts to India costs you more than ICICI money to India.

Well, the way international transfer works in no basic stuff. I do not know which extent are you refering to that I am wrong.

I wanted to avoid the discussion about the local banks, but here you go. If you have special FX transaction account or with another local bank (including ABN). You pay a certain a amount per year but then you get a better rate. Depending on the amount you transfer it might work out better for an individual. Not to mention that there are other banks - SNS, KAS, FMO, Freisland, DHB bank and may other smaller banks that offer better deals (than an EXPAT account with ABN/ING) for direct transfer.

They have deals like a fixed rate tranfer for the amounts you transfer. The rates that they offer are regulation by DNB and are often better. I already explained how ICICI manages the rates and makes money. Yes, it seems similar but if you take off 1 or 2 INR off every EURO and then sell it for 4 extra, then it is a different logic than a bank who offers you a rate directly buy the INR rather than you have to sell it.

Anyways, I am calling my peace of this subject.

As for a normal expat in this country ICICI transfer is the best deal. And I am really not going to do the research work for a couple of Euros that might be saved by someone.
vsorathia
April 16, 2009 7:09:23 PM CEST

ICICI money2india delivered money in the evening of the thrid day. Worked well for me.
Best luck !!
satyap75
May 15, 2009 3:50:56 PM CEST

Did anybody ever tried to send Indian Rupees(instead of Euros) from ABN AMRO bank account in Netherlands? Is this possible.?
mirthvvr
- 5 posts
May 17, 2009 11:31:20 PM CEST

Yes, It's Possible. But it was very less compared to euro transfer.
We did Abn Amro to Citi Bank (in INR)
satyap75
May 18, 2009 7:26:40 PM CEST

How did you do it. I have been asking in ABN AMRO bank and they all are saying it is not possible do it.
mirthvvr
- 5 posts
May 19, 2009 7:02:22 PM CEST

It's simple as you are doing the Euro transfer.
For Eg: While putting 100 Euro, in the same section you can put 6500 INR.

I got to know this option thro Abn Amro bank folks in Dam sqaure, Amsterdam only.
rbp
June 14, 2009 4:47:55 PM CEST

Hi

could anyone let me know the process of using money2india to send money from ABNAMRO to ICICI bank India.

while Transfering money from ABNAMRO to JP Morgan, which option we have to use in ABN AMRO Online?

we have to use foreign transfer or SEPA Transfer?

which one is better and tell me which one is good?

Thanks.
pankajkhurana007
January 20, 2010 3:30:31 PM CET

rbp (Jun 14 2009, 01:47 PM) said: > original post
Hi

could anyone let me know the process of using money2india to send money from ABNAMRO to ICICI bank India.

while Transfering money from ABNAMRO to JP Morgan, which option we have to use in ABN AMRO Online?

we have to use foreign transfer or SEPA Transfer?

which one is better and tell me which one is good?

Thanks.

Use the foreign transfer option. and make sure that u select "shared cost" else ABN Amro will charge you good amount of money for the transfer. If you choose shared cost then you dont have to pay anything.
sps
- 258 posts
November 3, 2010 1:53:03 PM CET

If you want to use ICICI money2India, how do you register on the site? It does not provide country option for Netherlands?
vidhuu_in
March 2, 2011 7:04:34 PM CET

aashokprabhu (Mar 27 2009, 10:32 AM) said: > original post
You are right to some extent. I accept there is no free lunch. Banks are not doing any social service, its business & everybody runs business for profit. Those are all basic stuffs everybody knows.

But my point is transfering money through ABN Amro or any local dutch banks or other concepts to India costs you more than ICICI money to India.

And regarding the exchange rates, the exact foreign currencies rate with Indian rupee is given in RBI (reserve bank) site and moneytoindia has a exchange rate calculator you can check it , it is always similar to that. ICICI Bank usually buys euros at rates very similar to the RBI fixed buying rates. The profit they make is by selling our euros in selling rate which is higher than their buying price.

Ashok,

I know its an older post. But I just happened to see it ;-)
I looked up in the money2india.com but i don't see an option to choose Netherlands in the list of countries. How do you do that?

And did you ever try transfermate.com? They promos 50% off in their fees. Dint research a lot though. Do lemme know if you have more info on this. Thanks.

Vidhya
abcd1234
- 18 posts
December 2, 2011 6:33:00 PM CET

vidhuu_in said:

aashokprabhu (Mar 27 2009, 10:32 AM) said: > original post
You are right to some extent. I accept there is no free lunch. Banks are not doing any social service, its business & everybody runs business for profit. Those are all basic stuffs everybody knows.

But my point is transfering money through ABN Amro or any local dutch banks or other concepts to India costs you more than ICICI money to India.

And regarding the exchange rates, the exact foreign currencies rate with Indian rupee is given in RBI (reserve bank) site and moneytoindia has a exchange rate calculator you can check it , it is always similar to that. ICICI Bank usually buys euros at rates very similar to the RBI fixed buying rates. The profit they make is by selling our euros in selling rate which is higher than their buying price.

Ashok,

I know its an older post. But I just happened to see it ;-)
I looked up in the money2india.com but i don't see an option to choose Netherlands in the list of countries. How do you do that?

And did you ever try transfermate.com? They promos 50% off in their fees. Dint research a lot though. Do lemme know if you have more info on this. Thanks.

Vidhya

Use the new Money2India.EU service...Its a simple process:

1. Register online on www.money2india.eu

2. register your local bank a/c and your India bank account

3. Make a trasfer request by entering amount you want to transfer to India. Then they will give u a tracking number and will inform you to transfser Euros to ICICI Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. This is free as it goes through SEPA.

4. Go to ABN website and make a Euro Transfer through SEPA (The money goes in Euro from NL to Germany so there should not be any fees).

5. Once ICICI Germany receives the money (in Euro) they will convert it in rupees and credit your India account in rupees

It takes 1-2 days maximum for the entire process... and now with rates touching 68-70 its is cool...
sounics
- 3 posts
January 10, 2012 4:51:14 PM CET

Hi abcd1234...what is the service charge ICICI bank deducts for this money2india service?
subbu
- 6 posts
May 23, 2012 2:29:46 PM CEST

Dear All,

The best option for sending to india is through HDFC bank.

1. HDFC Remit to India.
2. Direct Swift transfer to your HDFC bank Account.

my experiance compared to all services these 2 will give best exchange rate and less/zero charges.

i played around many services. i find these are good.

Regards,

subbu.ch

Rotterdam
cool_john
- 82 posts
August 25, 2012 12:55:29 PM CEST

I had tried those things earlier but one fine day my payment was rejected and saying that beneficiary information is not correct which I did not understand as same thing had worked earlier.

I got a penalty of 25 euro . I asked hdfc quick remit but they did not respond properly. so I have just stopped it.

quick remit guys know how to reset password of your account but nothing more then that. despite several follow up no reply.

In the end I had a bad experience.
pravarj
- 4 posts
September 13, 2012 10:14:37 AM CEST

Hi,

Does any of you able to transfer money to India via JP Morgan. I tried and my money got refunded back to my ABN account. I am not sure what I did wrong. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks a lot