Sending money home without losing a week of pay
The fee is rarely the expensive part. How to compare what actually arrives, what to keep for your records, and the transfer patterns that are worth stopping for.
Somebody sending money home every month for three years will move a large amount through whichever service they picked in their first week. It is worth an hour, once.
Compare what arrives, not what is charged
The advertised fee is usually the small part. The larger cost is the margin built into the exchange rate, which is the gap between the rate you are given and the rate the currency is actually trading at. A service with no fee and a poor rate can cost more than one charging a visible fee.
The only comparison that means anything: for the same amount sent today, how many rupees land in the account at the other end. Ask each provider for that single number, including every charge at both ends.
Things that change the answer
- Bank transfer, card, or cash pickup, which are rarely priced the same
- Whether a receiving bank in India takes its own charge
- How fast it needs to arrive, since same-day usually costs more
- Sending one larger amount rather than several small ones
- The day you send, if you are sending a large sum
Keep a record of every transfer
Keep the receipt, the rate you were given, and the amount received. You may need them for tax questions in either country, for proving where money came from when a family member buys something, and for showing a pattern if anything is ever disputed. The Australian Taxation Office and the Reserve Bank of India both publish general guidance, and your own circumstances decide which of it applies to you.
Plan the transfer, not just the earning
What a job abroad is worth at home depends on the rate on the day you send, not the day you signed. Roots lets you put the earning months and the sending pattern in one place, so the plan is built on what arrives rather than on the headline salary.