Which intermediary bank to choose for USD inward remittance to IDFC bank?

[sangeeth]

Hi TF community!

I wanted to sell and transfer some of my shares from US Fidelity broker account to IDFC. I tried a test sale of a share and attempted a transfer without entering intermediary bank details, which I noticed was not required after browsing some forums. But unfortunately, that transaction didn’t succeed and the amount came back in my Fidelity account after about 2 weeks.

Upon complaints and finally receiving a callback from IDFC customer care, I was informed that I need to pick an intermediary bank from this list:

Correspondent Bank Details | IDFC FIRST Bank

Correspondent Bank Details

www.idfcfirstbank.com

I was told any one of these can be picked but I also see in the fine print the following:

These correspondent banks levy certain charges for rendering their services which are neither in control nor the responsibility of the IDFC FIRST BANK.

Does anyone know which intermediary bank out of this list gives the best rate for transfer?

 

[helloworld]

W

Thread 'Best Bank Account for Inward Remittance'

Feb 14, 2023

I have HDFC salary and BOB savings account. I get RSUs and ESPPs and sell them to get money in my Indian account.

I use inward remittance quite often and HDFC is a pain with calling RM and asking them to get approval for better rates etc.

Do you guys have experience with this? Which bank gives best inward remittance rate with no manual process involved?

• WhoU
• forex
• Replies: 248
• Forum: Bank Account

• 

: )

 

[sangeeth]

@helloworld This was specifically about intermediary banks as listed in the page. I didn't find any specific threads for this query, hence posted a new one.

But since you linked that thread, I checked it and found the following comment:

V

Post in thread 'Best Bank Account for Inward Remittance'

May 8, 2023

so for 100$, what you received from different banks?
Also, what is the intermediate bank change that was incurred for different banks?

Lowest charge was $3 for Citi/kvb. Highest was $10 for Chase/icici

Example:
Citibank with IndusInd charges $5
Citibank with KVB charges $3

• VijayflyRaven

• 

Still, wanted to see if someone had first-hand experience testing this out. I know IOB account is supposed to be the better option for these matters and I'll consider that for a later time but I wasn't super comfortable having too many accounts.

 

[helloworld]

@helloworld This was specifically about intermediary banks as listed in the page. I didn't find any specific threads for this query, hence posted a new one.

But since you linked that thread, I checked it and found the following comment:

V

Post in thread 'Best Bank Account for Inward Remittance'

May 8, 2023

so for 100$, what you received from different banks?
Also, what is the intermediate bank change that was incurred for different banks?

Lowest charge was $3 for Citi/kvb. Highest was $10 for Chase/icici

Example:
Citibank with IndusInd charges $5
Citibank with KVB charges $3

• VijayflyRaven

• 

Still, wanted to see if someone had first-hand experience testing this out. I know IOB account is supposed to be the better option for these matters and I'll consider that for a later time but I wasn't super comfortable having too many accounts.

lower charges ideally with international banks like Citi, HSBC, and StanC. Remaining all linked with thirdparty and charge extra.

 

[cesc007]

lower charges ideally with international banks like Citi, HSBC, and StanC. Remaining all linked with thirdparty and charge extra.

Can you mention how much better exchange rate for these? Is it at IBR level?

 

[helloworld]

Can you mention how much better exchange rate for these? Is it at IBR level?

I do occasionally at max 1 time in ayear, for me not much but if you do regular check current charges w.r.t Source account.

For 1 time like me its not much effort and wont loose much, and not worth wasting time, IMO.

 

[sangeeth]

I've opted for CITIUS33XXX for now. Will try to update here how that goes. It's a test transfer anyway.

 

[cesc007]

Thanks, let us know!

 

[sunit123]

do not choose any intermediary bank...it will be routed through best option by default..If you want to chose then go for JP Morgan Chase Bank...ICICI Bank also used JP Morgan Chase Bank services

 

[TheMentalist]

I've opted for CITIUS33XXX for now. Will try to update here how that goes. It's a test transfer anyway.

any updates ??

 

[Sobirvs]

why not use transferwise? or remitly?

 

[TheMentalist]

why not use transferwise? or remitly?

what are the charges involved for both??

 

[Sobirvs]

what are the charges involved for both??

10 times less than what traditional banks charge. It's not fixed yet affordable af. Wise have a calculator aswell on their app which can tell the charges and you don't need so much wire hassle like what traditional banks have. And these services don't actually send usd to india rather they have their own branches in india which just imps/upi you the amount in inr to inr (after conversion) instantly once u initiate the transfer in the US via debit card or ACH.

I am using wise for business from more than like 8 yrs now. It's so smooth.

 

[dilbersha]

10 times less than what traditional banks charge. It's not fixed yet affordable af. Wise have a calculator aswell on their app which can tell the charges and you don't need so much wire hassle like what traditional banks have. And these services don't actually send usd to india rather they have their own branches in india which just imps/upi you the amount in inr to inr (after conversion) instantly once u initiate the transfer in the US via debit card or ACH.

I am using wise for business from more than like 8 yrs now. It's so smooth.

I tried looking into wise but I didn't understand anything related to setting to accept payments. Fidelity expects account number, swift etc

 

[tetrapack]

I sold my stocks and choose wire to recieve payment
Didnt show me any option to choose any details for Wire

10USD was deducted for intermediary bank charges
Last time when I did this few months ago to IDFC, didnt see any of such charges

 

[Sobirvs]

I tried looking into wise but I didn't understand anything related to setting to accept payments. Fidelity expects account number, swift etc

Wise really doesn't work the way you think. It has nothing to do with wire/swift etc. Basically what they do is, they probably have escrow/reserves in Indian themselves in Indian currency. So, if someone(or you) have to send money from US Bank to Indian bank, you just initiate the trxn from wise and they will debit the money from the US Bank and then their indian reserves will transfer the money in INR in India. So there is no need of swift code or wire number etc etc.

Most of the stuff happens in ACH/Debit card/credit card from the US trxn and in India, They have NEFT/IMPS/UPI to transfer it.

Also, wise isn't a payment/card gateway/merchant account, They "accept" payments via wise to wise if you are looking for merchant services, wise is not it.