Team-BHP - The Forex Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan (Post 5468986)

Thanks.

I just visited SBI, where the funds are. As you say, their charges are nominal. Might as well take this path than get stuck with customs explaining why I am carrying so much cash. Besides; the question will surely come up on how I managed to exchange INR to NZD of this amount. The Relationship Manager at SBI did say something like 7lacs per annum which can be wired to another country. I am trying to move quite a bit more and if this cap is there, that is a barrier for me. A visit to a Chartered Accountant is also required, before sending the money.

Hope this will help in answering some of your questions:

https://www.dbs.com/in/treasures/art...i-repatriation

https://www.livemint.com/money/ask-m...309159130.html

So it seems like you can transfer upto USD 1Mn out of India if your funds fall under certain categories.

But for NZ, you may need to check with some bank in NZ to answer your queries on the limit for money going into your NZ account.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan (Post 5468220)

As an NRI traveling out of India, how much NZD (or USD equivalent. Converting INR to NZD while in India) are we allowed to take out of India in the form of cash, per passenger?

Usually, around 3000 USD in Cash and another 7000 USD in the form if Traveller cheques or Foreign exchange cards per Adult.

If your funds are in Bank and not in cash, simply wire them to your account in your home country. Block the Foreign exchange rate at the branch and then you should be good. Usually, not all branches deal in this, so you should check in a larger branch. They have a dedicated team. If you have an ICICI account, you can do it online from home and they show the exchange rate at the time of the transaction, not very best but still Ok for smaller values. Other Banks may also have a similar but I am not aware.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan (Post 5468986)

A visit to SBI NRI banking branch would be more beneficial , each city in India have multiple SBI NRI banking centres and they have up to date process/ procedures in place , under Liberal remittance scheme a resident Indian (either parents, siblings or close relatives ) can remit up to $250K per annum in to your account , I found relationship managers knowledge a mixed bag and it appears you have been provided the limit info for students which is Rs 6,50000 per annum which is a lot lesser than the above mentioned, alternatively if you have the funds in your NRE account ( to be clear not NRO as its a completely different scenario ) you can remit any amount with a bit of paper work which includes documentation around your residence permits / passport of the country of residence and the arrival date stamp in your passport

Hi all, New to this topic. So, please guide me in the right path.
One of my friend is moving out and we both have the following questions:

He is planning to move a decent amount of cash into CAD and we have some questions:
- Which would be the cheapest way to transfer? SBI and ICICI are charging > 2%, which seems pretty high.
- Are there any limits per day? per month? and per year? to transfer
- Any documents need to be submitted other than presenting visa copy to the banker. Any other processes to be followed?
- Any traps, pitfalls to be considered before moving currency?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvldvr (Post 5543030)

Has anyone travelled to Japan recently?

Any recommendations on shich will be the best forex card to use in Japan?

I am travelling to Japan later this month and I have been researching whats the best way to convert INR to JPY. Here are my findings.

1. I am going to use my credit card (HDFC Infinia enrolled in global value program) wherever possible. This will give me an effective cashback of 1.6% after all fees considered.

2. If I need cash, I am going to use my NIYO SBM Credit Card to withdraw one large amount (50000 yen) from 7-11 ATM (7 Bank) after landing in Japan. This will give me best exchange rate (visa-network rate) as well as zero markup and zero interest from Niyo SBM. There would be a small fee charged by 7 Bank (220 yen), which is negligible.

Hope this helps.

[quote=Comrade;5546495]I am travelling to Japan later this month and I have been researching whats the best way to convert INR to JPY. Here are my findings.
[quote=Comrade;5546495]

Thanks for the inputs.

Here's what I am doing finally.

Since Japan is largely a cash preferring country, I am carrying about 70% of the required funds in cash, sourced through Bookmyforex and BFC Forex.

I have also got 2 forex cards. One is ICICI, and the other one same as yours, I.e. NIYO. Will keep 30% of the required funds in these cards. Will swipe these cards, or withdraw cash from them, as required.

Regards

New to this topic. Please advice.

Context: My mother (70+) will be going on 14 days international tour with Kesari at end of this month. Trip is mostly inclusive of hotels, 3 times meals etc. including excursions.

So i need to provide some local currency (Euro and Pound) for emergency/shopping etc. Aprx 1 Lakh INR

Problem : I have gone through information available and it is very clear about two options

1. Carry Cash
2. Issue Forex Card

So need advice, looking at 1 Lakh conversion,

For cash - What is best and most reasonable way to acquire? With possibility to return remaining cash after tour - If any :-).

For Forex card -Which forex card would you advice with most reasonable markup as of today?

PS: i am not keen on using Indian credit and debit card considering "Card Clone". With currency/Forex, my liability is limited.

Quote:

Originally Posted by top_gear (Post 5547921)

New to this topic. Please advice.

So need advice, looking at 1 Lakh conversion,

For cash - What is best and most reasonable way to acquire? With possibility to return remaining cash after tour - If any :-).

For Forex card -Which forex card would you advice with most reasonable markup as of today?

PS: i am not keen on using Indian credit and debit card considering "Card Clone". With currency/Forex, my liability is limited.

For cash, I will recommend using BCF Forex. I got the best conversion rates from them, much better than bookmyforex and thomascook. They deliver currency at home.

Folks, I have a query regarding usage of Indian credit cards for international transaction. My better half was planning trip for UAE and made few reservations against card details via Booking.com. All reservations in the past were done this way where we just use the card to make reservations but pay at the property only

This time, however , was a eeny tiny clause that property may charge prepayment at any time and we realised that the stay charges were already debited from CC. Realising this, since trip was still months away, we decided to cancel now since we will have to settle the amount by end of month.

Here's where things get interesting, we are now being levied something called as a Markup fee + GST for both actual purchase and refund AS WELL. In this ordeal, we are now levied close to 28K. Seems extremely absurd and bank doesn't want to waive them off.

Any pointers to what can be done here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhi.modi05 (Post 5587245)

Hi all. I am new to forex. Need advice.

For my wife's official trip to Taiwan, what is the best mode of carrying money? For all official expense, her organization is offering her a Credit card.

For all personal expense - will Forex card be useful or she should prefer only cash? Will USD work in Taiwan or should she carry local currency in hard cash?

Thanks in advance.

I don't know about Taiwan specifically but Niyo works well for such a purpose including cash withdrawals. Check on their website whether they cover Taiwan also.

There is no markup fee mainly and since it's a debit card you can just add money whenever you need.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r24x7 (Post 5592190)

Here's where things get interesting, we are now being levied something called as a Markup fee + GST for both actual purchase and refund AS WELL. In this ordeal, we are now levied close to 28K. Seems extremely absurd and bank doesn't want to waive them off.

Any pointers to what can be done here?

Im a long time Booking.com user. Booking.com Room Type and Room Category rules should always be read. Some prices are non refundable. Some are refundable.

Some hotels charge prepayment at the time of booking. Most don't. Booking.com is able to settle payments later with some hotels and some hotels prefer the guest to pay direct at the hotel.

Ref card charges. All credit cards charge FCY markup fees. The amounts vary. Some cards like HDFC Infinia and Diners Black are aimed at frequent travellers hence the charges may be lesser. There is a new card called One Card which claims its forex markup to be near zero or negligible.

FCY markup fees can and should ideally only be charged at the time of ‘spending the forex’ and not at the time of ‘refund’ but it is better to check direct with the bank who issued the card and take it up with them. However the bank will apply the forex exchange rate as per their record at the time of transaction. So if the forex rate is ruling higher at the time of purchase thats what they will charge plus the markup fees and GST on that amount. If there is refund then the exchange rate prevailing at the time of refund will apply, so if the rate is lower at that time, we as consumers lose on that arbitrage because we bought at the time the rates were higher.

GST on card transaction amounts are leviable as per GOI FinMin RBI rules and well, sadly there is no recourse at all for the common salaried tax paying person.

Its a wicked world. But as long as one is a consumer, there isn’t much one can do.