Travellers cheques, ATM, visa or account in India?

kukurruku

Hello everyone!

I'm travelling to India within exactly one month (wow!! I cant even believe it time is almost here!! ) and one of the latest things I need to sort out is money. So far, I thought that Travellers Cheques + some cash were the best option but I've felt a bit discouraged after speaking with the bank guys and reading about the amount of time it takes to get your money in India.

At least, after reading some of the mails posted here I've decided I'm not going to go for dollars but stay in Euros, since I'm in the Euro zone (Spain). That's one thing sorted.

But,now, could anyone give me some advice on the best option? how do I know how much they charge me if I use my ATM/Visa in India? Shall I ask in my own bank? (they're a bit useless and I always leave feeling more confused) .

Ah! I'm going to be in India with my partner for about 5'5 months and the route is more or less like a circle starting and finishing in Delhi and going all around India (roughly: Shimla, Lucknow, Varanasi -maybe Nepal-, Darjeeling, Kolkata, Chennai, South India -maybe Sri Lanka-, Goa, Mumbai, Gujarat, Bhopal, Rajastan...)

I'm very excited about all this, and I'd appreciate any helpful advice, since I do need to sort the money stuff within the next few days.
Thanks!!!

K

UltraViolet

Your bank will tell you how much they charge abroad....It should be a 2 or 3 Euros a transaction.

kukurruku

Thank you! I think that's what I'm going to do.... I'll take one tc with me and then use ATMs for the rest of the transactions, since tc charge me two comissions: here when ordering them and in India when changing them... That seems the easiest option.
Also heard about a 'non resident account'...does that exist in India?

K

kukurruku

Thanks!!!!

rhytha

ATM is the best, but just have some extra cash when u visit smaller cities and towns.

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wonderwomanusa

The only place I visited that had no ATMs was Mammalapuram, and when I needed money (at night, of course), they would only change cash -- so make sure you have some US$ 10s or 20s for emergencies.

There IS an ATM at the Chennai bus station...as well as in every other town I visited in India. My bank only charges $1 per withdrawal, and I never found a charge from the banks who owned the machines I used...but maybe that was reflected in the exchange rate.

I took TCs as well, but only used a couple of them. I expect I'll have a few left for the next trip to India.

butterball

Seems you need to be 'resident' whatever the technicality is on that..

http://www.hdfcbank.com/ri/ri-pb-cur-reg-who.htm

I'm going for 6 months too and will probably still just do the usual 'mixed' bag of ATM's, cash & TC's...

Jeroen

ATMs are the way to go in India. Just make sure you're tanked up before you set off to rural places and have some cash €s and your TCs as a backup and you'll be fine. In the 5 months I was there, I never had difficulties finding an ATM in cities, and my TCs and spare cash stayed unused.

>the charge for an atm transaction is levied by the foreign bank whose atm yu use. typicallu 5 dollars + 0.1% per transaction ( not talking about tc's)

Not necessarily so! If you are using your bank *debet* card (ie it slurps the cash straight from your account back home) you will ONLY be charged by your home bank, not by whoever owns the ATM abroad. If you use your *credit card* in an ATM you must be desperate, because they usually charge you a ridiculous amount.

Using your debet card in ATMs abroad is the best way to get cash because the bank will charge you the interbank exchange rate of that day, which is *always* better than what you get at the counter of a bank or an exchange office with cash, and much better than what you get with TCs. Besides, there's no tedious paperwork or erratic opening hours - many Indian ATMs are have friendly armed guards and are airconditioned!

My bank (the Dutch Rabobank, but I know ABN AMRO does the same) is very friendly, and using ATMs worldwide is *absolutely free* for us, meaning we get the best rates at the most ease. I know in Spain it's sometimes different - but with the new EU banking laws, there's no stopping you opening a Dutch bank account and using that instead of your rip-off Spanish one! Stand up for your rights, Spain.

PS India claims to have the world's only floating ATM (on a ferry in Kochi), and also the world's highest ATM at 3500m in Leh (not true, there's one about 300m higher in Shigatse, Tibet!).

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cyberhippie

Hi guys just a few points to add on the ATM versus TC debate.
First of all the notion that you get a better rate of exchange using your card, I'm not at all sure this is the case (feel free to correct me here anyone in the banking industry) I think the banking exchange rate used by people like cirrus/electron is perhaps less volatile than the day to day exchange rates used by banks and change wallahs this will sometimes work in your favour sometimes not.
For instance a negative exchange rate for your foreign currency i.e the Euro goes down against the Rupee, it will be picked up straight away at the bank or change wallah so you lose by changing your hard earned with these establishments but if you use your card you will not suffer these day to day shifts.
However I suspect that the opposite may also be true if there is a positive shift on your foreign currency i.e. the Euro goes up against the Rupee this will also be slow to filter through on the ATM system so you will then lose the benefit of the of the better "on the day" exchange rate!!
All in all it's probably six and half a dozen but I reckon it is probably unwise to say that you always get a better exchange rate using your card!!
Secondly there are charges levied against withdrawals with an ATM card in most cases, this changes from bank to bank so try checking with your local bank for details.
For instance Jeroen says his bank in the Netherlands doesn't charge for withdrawals I'm not doubting him for a moment but my bank here in the Netherlands (the ABNAmro) charges me around 3 euros per transaction using my Eurodeditcard on the cirrus network, so If I withdraw 20 times on a six month trip it will cost me Euros 60, probably more than I would pay if I just converted my cash into TCs.
Cashing TCs is still IMHO the easist way to go in India, you are not charged a commission when you cash you cheques either at the bank or at the many exchange offices.
If your going to be visiting a lot of towns along the way then yes the ATM is probably the way to go these days but if like me you tend to steer away from towns, then I suggest a good supply of TCs or your going to find yourself carrying large sums of cash. Which is the crux for me the whole idea is to try and keep your hard earned safe, and Using ATMs then carrying around large wads of cash kinda defeats the purpose.
On my last trip Bharatpur/Orcha/Khujarahao/Chitrakoot/Tala/Bundi/Palolem/Ranakpur/Kumbhalgarh/Pushkar none of these places had an ATM.
So plan carefully if your going to use your ATM card to fund the trip lest you come unstuck along the way!!
With a bit of planning the trip can be done using your card but carry a few TCs just in case you head out into the sticks!!
My last point is a worse case scenario, what if you lose your card??? How does getting a new card and pin number sent to you in India balance up with getting cheques replaced???
I messed up 3 years ago and got my card blocked, I phoned my (unhelpful) bank and was told there was nothing I could do until I got home, stupid I thought but then sending a card with pin number to a voice on the telephone in India isn't very wise either I concluded.
TCs should in theory be easy to replace after getting the obligatory "police rapport"
I'm not trying to be argumentative I'm just pointing out the other side of the coin if you like!!

Happy Traveling

kukurruku

Thank you for all your useful advice so far!! I think I've got things a bit more clear, now, although I have so many options that it's not easy, specially since so far I had been thinking that TCs were the only and best one.
However, I havent heard much about the possibility of opening an account in India. Anyone there to help? What about opening it from London, from one of the banks which have branches in India? Is there any chance to do that?

Regards!

K

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guerik

I'm with Cyberhippie, Traveller's Cheques are the go for me.

Fees - I can't comment on banks in other countries, but using an Australian bank for overseas withdrawals seems to work out at about $5 per transaction, a 1% conversion fee and then whatever charge the local bank adds on.
The fee to purchase TCs is capped at $33.00* including currency conversion, and it's relatively easy to find a money changer that won't charge commission at the other end.

Ease of use - On my last trip, I travelled with a few people that were using ATM cards, while I was using TCs. To withdraw on their cards, they had to go into the commercial centre of the towns (not usually an area travellers frequent) to find an ATM, or sometimes draw it out over the counter with a teller instead (which was apparently a pain in the butt also). They couldn't be sure what rate was being used until they looked at their statement at home, as it's calculated by their home bank.
I could wander up to a money-changer and swap my TCs for rupees in a few minutes. I had a pretty good idea of what the rate should be, and most didn't charge commission to change the US$ to rupees.

Safety - If TCs are stolen, you can have them replaced by the company you bought them from. Most of those companies have outlets in India which can organise this for you. It's a bit of a pain in the butt, but it's a lot easier than contacting your bank at home and trying to have the ATM card replaced.

*in Australia, based on buying American Express TCs from Australia Post. Maximum order $7000.00

Jeroen

I guess may depend on your bank and the kind of account you have, but as far as I know most banks, when debiting an ATM withdrawal from your account, use the middle exchange rate. This (I read) is the exact middle between the London market buying and selling price of the currency at noon GMT of that day.
If you change cash at a bank, you'll always pay the selling rate of that day or the previous day (ie you're selling euros to the bank) with is not as good as the middle rate.
If you change at a commercial exchange office you'll *always* pay a percentage so that these guys make a profit, this is either a commission, or hidden in the exchange rate which is not that good.
If you change TCs, there may be a sign saying 'no commission', but you can bet your ass that the rate you get for TCs is lower than cash there - they need to pay the costs of exchanging them (and apart from that, you've already paid an 'insurance' fee when you purchased the TCs at home).
Losing your ATM debet card is indeed a risk, and that's when you need some cash and/or TCs to see you through - my bank sends out a new card and PIN within 3 days so I'd have to wait a week or so to get the new one.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with ATMS, taking out enough in cities to last me through spells in small places - and also in Nepal, Tibet and rump China I haven't had to use my TCs yet.
PS Khajuraho now also has a a/c cirrus/maestro ATM, opposite the lake. It was the coolest place in town when it was 46 degrees back in June.

kukurruku

Hola again!

Well, been to my bank(s) again and found a bit more of information. I guess I have to agree with Jeroen about banks and cards in Spain.... to start with, they've told me that taking my debit card with me is definitely not a good idea coz it will not work 99'9% of the times (a couple next to me was complaining about a problem they had with it in France... do I need to say more?). I can withdraw with my VISA card, and that will cost me 4% of the withdrawn amount, which means I should do it in 'big' bits... So I've almost decided to take quite a few TCs both from AExpress and TCook, plus some cash in Euro, some in $, and my VISA card with me. I'll check about the possibility of opening an account when I get there.

Ha! well, now I have another question regarding all this... which are the best places to keep your cash, TCs, cards... ?? I know I should be having them 'on' me all of the time, but also kept in separate places and all that... Shall I start making up hidden pockets in all my clothes?? I was planning to live on Shalwar Kameeze there, nice and fresh (well, not when we're in Shimla, Tibet or Darjeeling in November and December, of course Have you got any useful tips? In case it makes any difference, I'm a female .

Again, thanks for all your tips. After just 2 days of 'discovering' Indiamike, my views on many things are changing a lot. Following some of the things I've read here I'm even going to try to change my rucksac for a smaller one, since I havent used it yet since bought it a few months ago.

K

samjay

I live in Canada and will be travelling to India in September. I looked into opening a bank account with ICICI figuring it would be provide some ease in withdrawing funds, but was told I had to be an Indian resident. This was after I emailed them to explain I would like to deposit a substantial amount of money in the account. I asked if there were any other Indian banks that could facilitate this process for me. They replied no.

Butthead

whenever i am in a foreign country i always use by VISA credit card in ATM's and i do not pay any fee's to do so as i transfer money from my current/savings account to my VISA account beforehand. I arrive in India in just over 1 month and this is what i will be doing. I assume this will work the same and am surprised nobody else is doing this in order to avoid paying up to 5dollar etc per transaction.