Hi all,

As some of you might know, I am going to India next week and will be doing the same work for the same Deutsche Firma but as a Freelancer instead of an employer.

The company will send money every month to my bank account in India. What is the best way of doing this? From which bank and in which ways could I get more benefit?

Thank you all for reading this.

@laliluna

....The company will send money every month to my bank account in India.....


Why to a bank account in India?

You can always use your geramn bank account even if you are not in germany, all you need is a postal address for your bank account.

I understand that, but at some point either I've to transfer or take the money to India.

If the company sends money directly to Indian bank account, they'll pay half of the commision charges!

There are many possibilities for sending money to india from Deutschland.

From a local bank like Sparkasse . Usually they charge about 11.25 Euros or 0.15% (they say 1,5 promill ) which ever is higher. For small amounts( i dont remember the exact amount, may be €500) the charges are much less. . And you have three options for paying the sending fees. It could be charged here completely or in India or it could be divided . I would prefer getting it deducted in India as most nationalised banks do not charge more than a few hundred rupees.

By ICICI Money2India or ,Times Money Remit2India service. You have to open an account with these services in order to use it.
http://www.timesofmoney.com/remittance/jsp/home.jsp
http://www.icicibank.com/pfsuser/icicibank/ibank-nri/nrinewversion/m2i.htm
Charges
http://www.timesofmoney.com/remittance/jsp/toml_feeDetails.jsp?country=Germany&uiId=TOML&partnerId=TOML
https://m2inet.icicibank.co.in/m2iNet/m2iNetLoginForm.jsp


Using Western Union Money Transfer or Moneygram : You could receive the amount in India from their office in a matter of hours. But the charges are huge.

From banks that have branches in India as well as in Deutschland like Citibank or Deutsche Bank.
I dont know if they charge any fee for inter branch money transfer. If not , and if the exchange rates are good , then this would be your best bet.

The main catch is the exchange rate. A difference in 50 Paisa amounts to Rs.1000 , if an amount of €2000 transferred to India.

Before you decide on a particular service , check the exchange rate for that day. The exchange rate of Icici and Times Money are displayed on their website. If you are sending from Sparkasse, the receiving Indian bank decides the exchange rate, which in my experience , is usually better than ICICI and Times Money. I dont know about the fees and exchange rate of Citibank and Deutsche Bank.
If you get this info , do not forget to share with us.

Hope this helps.

Sejoka