Posted on: 01-11-11 11:03:29
we are wondering how to take money to India for routine expenses- taxi, restaurants etc should we take travellers cheques, use visa cards after checking fees, transfering it to someones account. Can you please share what you did and how to save more money insted of paying comissions and service fees. Thank you
Hello,
You could open an account with ICICI Canada and, deposit funds in Canadian dollars and use the ICICI and other ATMs in India easily.
Joint account should get you two ATM cards so loosing one would still give you access to fund from the other card. If you have lost the DD, TC it is pain plus it is pain in many other ways..
Enjoy your vacation.
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I will not recommend travellers cheques because first it will cost you when you buy them and when you convert them in India. As I remember ICICI took 30 days to cash it and one money changer charges a lot if you need to cash them in urgency.
I think best option open NRO/NRE account in SBI India. Or open account in SBI Canada. So far SBI canada Mississauga branch is best banking experience I got. SBI canada is the only bank where you can transfer money to SBI India by sending fax or attaching money transfer form to email and nobody can match their exchange rate. Branch Manager Mr. Phawa is very professional and responds quickly.
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san_sai
I agree . Open an NRE a/c with SBI through SBIC , convert & transfer funds to the NRI Branch where you have opened an a/c with ...Upon reaching India , visit this branch and have your cheque book / pass book / card etc ( if needed ) .. You can also open an NRO a/c likewise ..... I believe funds need to be transferred to an NRO a/c before they can be re used in India but I might be slightly off ... may be you can with draw from NRE a/c itself ...
Convert all your existing resident savings bank accounts to NRO .. It is illegal to retain regular savings accounts once your status changes .
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Fido.
What do people do when they travel to countries other than India? Do they open a bank account in that country before leaving???
Quote:
Originally posted by Maharana
What do people do when they travel to countries other than India? Do they open a bank account in that country before leaving???
When people travel to other countries, the currencies are easily available in Canada. In past , I visited UK and US, I got respective currencies from my Bank in Canada. However, Indian currency is not available in any banks of Canada so opening an account is advisable.
The other option is you can negotiate with your credit card company to waive or reduce currency transfer charge during such period. Some Credit Card companies offer low charges if you use them abroad.
Just do not assum a single form of money will be good enough. Take cash currancy CND or US $ but do not cash out at one location or all at a time. Cash those as per requirement, Keep visa/master card, use them only at reliable or reputable places. Transferring by opening bank acc is a good idea but if you are visiting once a while, your left over money will be stuck in acc after the trip. Think twice before relying on ATM and banking facilities in India. If anything goes wrong, you will be out of luck.
Plz inform your credit card co. about trip in advance, so they make sure for smooth process of transactions while you are using cards in India.
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Cash withdrawal on credit cards are not advisable because of HEAVY FEES and Interest.
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