If you want to send money to India from Canada, it makes sense to consider speed, privacy, exchange fees, and other factors before you send your money overseas.
According to Monito, Canadian residents send around 3.5 billion Canadian dollars annually to India. Whether you’re sending money to friends abroad or helping to pay a relative’s electricity bill, these tips below can help you maximize the value of your Canadian dollar.
How do you send a money transfer?
You can transfer money through your bank or a money transfer service. The best option for you may depend on convenience, exchange fees, or security, among many other factors.
You can likely use your bank to make an international wire transfer; however, the transfer process is slower with added costs. Wire transfers must pass through SWIFT, facilitating financial transactions and payments between global banks, and SWIFT adds some extra time and expense to the transfer process.
Alternatively, a money transfer service may be faster than your bank, and you may avoid some extra fees in the process. However you will want to get familiar with money transfer fees as well.
Five tips for sending money from Canada to India
If you want to get the most value for your Canadian dollar, then you should learn a few tricks of the trade before you send a money transfer to India.
Transfer speed
The time it takes for your money to arrive in India can be of enormous importance to you or the person receiving the money. Sometimes, you have some flexibility on the arrival time ;other times, it may need to be instantaneous. Many different service providers offer fast transfer times, but these quicker times can come with additional fees.
The transfer speed will also depend on how you want your money to be received. For example, are you sending local currency ahead of your big trip? Or are you paying a loved one’s utility bill? If your receiver picks up a cash transfer, it will usually take at least a few business days, depending on the service provider.
Exchange rate
One of the biggest factors to consider is the exchange rate from Canadian dollars to Indian rupees. The currency conversion from Canadian dollars to Indian rupees changes daily, but as of the writing of this article in late February 2023, one Canadian dollar equals 61.01 Indian rupees.
Many service providers will offer competitive exchange rates but hide markup fees within their rates. Keep this in mind as you’re trying to maximize the value of your Canadian dollar.
Security and privacy
It may feel like a risk to send your money internationally, but most, if not all, money transfer services use encryption technology to help ensure your money gets to the recipient. You will also want to ensure you can trust your transfer service’s reliability. Be sure to do your due diligence and research different providers to have confidence in their service.
Before you choose a service provider, ensure they’re registered with and operating under a financial regulatory authority. For Canada, the provider should operate under the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada or a similar authority. For India, the provider should be operating under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI.)
Fees
Every service provider, including your bank, has fees for sending money abroad. Whether it’s a fixed processing fee, an added commission, or an exchange rate margin, the service will cost you some extra money. Examples of fees include:
- A fixed fee is a flat rate the provider charges its customers for using their service.
- A commission is a percentage you pay on your transfer amount, ranging from 1% to 4%. Typically the higher the money transfer, the higher the fee.
- An exchange rate margin is when a currency exchange service places extra fees within their provided exchange rate, to make a profit.
You may decide for yourself that additional fees are reasonable, considering the speed, convenience, and privacy.
Convenience
Another major factor to consider before you send money overseas is the convenience provided to you. Whether it’s customer service, the simplicity of their technology, or the number of payment methods available for you to choose, you deserve efficiency and reliability when you send your money overseas.
If you traveling to India in the near future or have friends or your loved ones there, you can use the Western Union Canada’s app to send money back to India and save time. Western Union offers international transfers from Canada to India within minutes through our money transfer app. The app is clear-cut and easy to navigate, plus you can always track the money transfer and get notified when it arrives. You can also contact Western Union’s reliable customer service team whenever you have questions.
As you decide how to send your money from Canada to India, it’s essential that you have confidence in your transfer service. Be sure to evaluate all the above factors before you decide on the transfer method that’s right for you.
