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Indian Overseas Bank : Inward Foreign Remittance Experience

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IOB forex remittance New
harshitharlalka

harshitharlalka

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tl:dr; Wire transaction completed in <24 hours, USD-INR conversion rate just 17p below IBR, best conversion rate and least fees across all other banks

Timeline : Skip to Act 2 if you already have an IOB account
Act 1 : Opening account without visiting the branch
> 23 Oct (Thu) : Opened IOB account through digital KYC (https://vkyc.iob.in/customerVkyc/#/siteMaintainance), completed all verifications but couldn't complete the last step of scheduling a Video KYC with bank person because of possible glitch in their system
> 24 Oct (Fri) : Tried again to schedule Video KYC but website throwed error so called up customer care (really responsive and helpful) which asked me to send an email to rekyc@iob.in and received a call within 30 minutes from IOB who sent me a Video KYC link
> 27 Oct (Mon) : Received my account details, online banking details in email basically the next working day. I called up customer care for process and charges on inward foreign remittance and they recommended to visit branch
> 29 Oct (Wed) : Visited my home branch which I have selected during account opening, met the branch manager and made sure my account was in order and there would be no hiccups once I initiate a wire transfer from my US broker, got SWIFT code from branch manager and negotiated for FOREX conversion rate on USD-INR, she promised me 10p better rate than IOB website TTBuy rate (https://www.iob.bank.in/iob_Forex-rates.aspx)

Act 2 : Wire Transfer
Test Transfer :
> 29 Oct (Wed) : Around 11pm in the evening, initiated a test wire transaction from US broker (Charles Schwab - Schwab One International account) to IOB of 50 USD and informed bank manager on whatsapp
> 30 Oct (Thu) : 11am in the morning money credited in my account (wow that was fast!) at IOB website TTBuy rate (https://www.iob.bank.in/iob_Forex-rates.aspx) - Since this was a small transaction, preferential conversion rate was not applied

- Fees & Charges :
-- IOB Commission : Flat Rs. 250+GST
-- FX Conversion GST : Rs. 45
-- No intermediary bank charges

Actual Transfer :
> 30 Oct (Thu) : Around 8pm in the evening, initiated the full transaction from US broker to IOB of XX,XXX USD and informed bank manager on whatsapp
> 31 Oct (Fri) : 11am in the morning money credited in my account (wow that was fast again!) at 10p more than IOB website TTBuy rate (https://www.iob.bank.in/iob_Forex-rates.aspx). This meant my conversion rate was just 17p below IBR, IOB standard rate card rate is 27p below IBR

- Fees & Charges :
-- IOB Commission : Flat Rs. 250+GST
-- FX Conversion GST : 0.047% of INR value (For Eg: for 10L inward remittance this would come to Rs. 471 only)
-- No intermediary bank charges
-- You can also estimate the charges here --> https://voice.iob.in/forexcal or email fedcar@iob.in for any query who generally respond within an hour

Summary : I had no prior relation with IOB and went from opening the account (digitally) to inward remittance within 7-8 days. The next best IBR rate after IOB is probably SBI which offer 42-43p below IBR (https://officialforexrates.com/). Speed of wire transaction was phenomenal at less than 24 hours and even less than 12 hours for test transfer. Bank Manager was also very well versed with Forex process.

APPENDIX : My experience negotiating with other banks
> HDFC : I have Imperia status with HDFC with >10years of banking relationship. They offered me just 10p above their card rate (https://www.hdfcbank.com/content/bb...57c87f/?path=/Personal/Home/content/rates.pdf) which was still 1.5 rupees!! below IBR rate
> ICICI : Refused to negotiate at all and basically offered me their published forex rate itself

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PS. I ticked against debit card while opening the account (SB Max with MAB of Rs. 5,000) and received Rupay Platinum NCMC Debit Card by default (probably will not be charged any issuance or AMC fees). This was a happy happenstance.😀 I also see the option in mobile app and internet banking to upgrade the card to Rupay Select NCMC Debit Card but I'm not sure if Select has anything extra to offer to me above platinum benefits.
 
Last edited:
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    • Yugi said:
    This is very useful. Looks like I need to open an IOB account now. What account did you open? What are the charges?
    Click to expand...
    I opened a SB Max (which has 5,000 monthly average balance as requirement). I selected cheque book while opening the account so they've only deducted Rs. 59 till now for the cheque book which got delivered. You can fund the account easily through UPI since UPI activation works with Aadhar now and doesn't need a Debit Card compulsorily.
     
    harshitharlalka said:
    tl:dr; Wire transaction completed in <24 hours, USD-INR conversion rate just 17p below IBR, best conversion rate and least fees across all other banks

    Timeline : Skip to Act 2 if you already have an IOB account
    Act 1 : Opening account without visiting the branch
    > 23 Oct (Thu) : Opened IOB account through digital KYC (https://vkyc.iob.in/customerVkyc/#/siteMaintainance), completed all verifications but couldn't complete the last step of scheduling a Video KYC with bank person because of possible glitch in their system
    > 24 Oct (Fri) : Tried again to schedule Video KYC but website throwed error so called up customer care (really responsive and helpful) which asked me to send an email to rekyc@iob.in and received a call within 30 minutes from IOB who sent me a Video KYC link
    > 27 Oct (Mon) : Received my account details, online banking details in email basically the next working day. I called up customer care for process and charges on inward foreign remittance and they recommended to visit branch
    > 29 Oct (Wed) : Visited my home branch which I have selected during account opening, met the branch manager and made sure my account was in order and there would be no hiccups once I initiate a wire transfer from my US broker, got SWIFT code from branch manager and negotiated for FOREX conversion rate on USD-INR, she promised me 10p better rate than IOB website TTBuy rate (https://www.iob.bank.in/iob_Forex-rates.aspx)

    Act 2 : Wire Transfer
    Test Transfer :
    > 29 Oct     (Wed) : Around 11pm in the evening, initiated a test wire transaction from US broker (Charles Schwab - Schwab One International account) to IOB of 50 USD and informed bank manager on whatsapp
    > 30 Oct (Thu) : 11am in the morning money credited in my account (wow that was fast!) at IOB website TTBuy rate (https://www.iob.bank.in/iob_Forex-rates.aspx) - Since this was a small transaction, preferential conversion rate was not applied

    - Fees & Charges :
    -- IOB Commission : Flat Rs. 250+GST
    -- FX Conversion GST : Rs. 45
    -- No intermediary bank charges

    Actual Transfer :
    > 30 Oct     (Thu) : Around 8pm in the evening, initiated the full transaction from US broker to IOB of XX,XXX USD and informed bank manager on whatsapp
    > 31 Oct (Fri) : 11am in the morning money credited in my account (wow that was fast again!) at 10p more than IOB website TTBuy rate (https://www.iob.bank.in/iob_Forex-rates.aspx). This meant my conversion rate was just 17p below IBR, IOB standard rate card rate is 27p below IBR

    - Fees & Charges :
    -- IOB Commission : Flat Rs. 250+GST
    -- FX Conversion GST : 0.047% of INR value (For Eg: for 10L inward remittance this would come to Rs. 471 only)
    -- No intermediary bank charges
    -- You can also estimate the charges here --> https://voice.iob.in/forexcal or email fedcar@iob.in for any query who generally respond within an hour

    Summary : I had no prior relation with IOB and went from opening the account (digitally) to inward remittance within 7-8 days. The next best IBR rate after IOB is probably SBI which offer 42-43p below IBR (https://officialforexrates.com/). Speed of wire transaction was phenomenal at less than 24 hours and even less than 12 hours for test transfer. Bank Manager was also very well versed with Forex process.

    APPENDIX : My experience negotiating with other banks
    > HDFC : I have Imperia status with HDFC with >10years of banking relationship. They offered me just 10p above their card rate (https://www.hdfcbank.com/content/bb...57c87f/?path=/Personal/Home/content/rates.pdf) which was still 1.5 rupees!! below IBR rate
    > ICICI : Refused to negotiate at all and basically offered me their published forex rate itself

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    |
    |
    |
    PS. I ticked against debit card while opening the account (SB Max with MAB of Rs. 5,000) and received Rupay Platinum NCMC Debit Card by default (probably will not be charged any issuance or AMC fees). This was a happy happenstance.😀 I also see the option in mobile app and internet banking to upgrade the card to Rupay Select NCMC Debit Card but I'm not sure if Select has anything extra to offer to me above platinum benefits.
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for this post, it's very useful.
    Just 2 queries, did you use any intermediary bank of IOB in the US? Or you used only the iob swift code and left intermediary bank details blank?
    Any inward remittance declaration you needed to submit?
     
    telescope said:
    Thanks for this post, it's very useful.
    Just 2 queries, did you use any intermediary bank of IOB in the US? Or you used only the iob swift code and left intermediary bank details blank?
    Any inward remittance declaration you needed to submit?
    Click to expand...
    So, my broker's (Charle Schwab) wire webform didn't have any option of selecting intermediary bank so effectively it was left blank from my end. I only used the IOB SWIFT code.

    Didn't need to submit any inward remittance declaration. I added the purpose code in SWIFT message and mentioned the purpose code to my bank
     
    harshitharlalka said:
    So, my broker's (Charle Schwab) wire webform didn't have any option of selecting intermediary bank so effectively it was left blank from my end. I only used the IOB SWIFT code.

    Didn't need to submit any inward remittance declaration. I added the purpose code in SWIFT message and mentioned the purpose code to my bank
    Click to expand...
    That's good to know. Any volume of remittance commitment you made to branch manager for getting this special rate of 10p? And did she agree for a better rate easily? Just want to know how easy or difficult is it to negotiate.
     
    telescope said:
    That's good to know. Any volume of remittance commitment you made to branch manager for getting this special rate of 10p? And did she agree for a better rate easily? Just want to know how easy or difficult is it to negotiate.
    Click to expand...
    I promised her multiple 5 digit USD remittance in the next 6 months. She was very forthcoming and agreed easily, called her Forex dept person and confirmed the current rate to me.

    Didn't really need to negotiate, I asked her to give a better rate since this is a larger volume and she agreed she can do it, told us that she did a similar transaction day before yesterday. Also shared that for a 100K USD transaction the fees was just 3K.

    I actually got to know the actual fees after remittance and the break up by emailing to fedcar@iob.in. I imagine if your branch manager is not useful or don't want to visit the branch, you can try emailing the above, and everything could be handled without visiting the branch.
     
    I also did a foreign inward remittance transaction to iob account. However there was no message email on credit of amount to account. Also there is no invoice/ settlement receipt shared over email.
     
    bharathnalla said:
    I also did a foreign inward remittance transaction to iob account. However there was no message email on credit of amount to account. Also there is no invoice/ settlement receipt shared over email.
    Click to expand...
    Yeah, same with me. You can email to feecar@iob.in which will give you breakup of fees and charges, sent amount, settled amount. That can be used as documentation for future reference.
     
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