Best way to bank in UK whilst living/working in India?

kismet_2

Hi everyone, looking for some collective advice please! I have been offered a role from my company to work for a long period out in India. Great opportunity but I will be recieving my pay in uk £ to my uk held account.

My question is what should I think about or look for when banking in the uk but living and working in India? I know I want my money to work for me but want a bank that allows me to transfer or take money out with no commission fee's, a good exchange rate and transfer without excessive charges?

Would it be best to open an account in India and transfer on a monthly basis? Or just use my card month by month at a cash point?

Any advice or recommendations would be excellent.

Thanks

jonesMUFCforever

ICICI perhaps?

Cranston_2

If you have got the dosh HSBC Premier.

jimmy111

I'd steer well clear of ICICI. My experiences with them indicates to me that their IT and "customer service" delivery are very poor. So, I'd be worried about relying on ICICI as my primary transactions bank account even if it is Indian based. I'd opt for one of the large internationals that has a significant presence in India. As soon as I can close my account with ICICI, I will!! :eek:

Voyager2002

How much cash will you need there? Any credit card spending should go on a Nationwide credit card, while you can withdraw reasonable amounts of cash using a Nationwide cash card. However, there is a limit to the amount you can withdraw in any one day, so if you are going to have to pay rent or anything else substantial in cash you will need a local account.

sdooley

HSBC as they have quite a few branches (of the Hongkong bank, a subsidiary of the UK bank) in India. Plus you can do stuff online easily.

I'm very envious, India is great!

hotblu

Hello kismet,

I just did a quick search for you and Natwest do a Non Resident Indian (NRI) Welcome Account for £2 a month but no transfer fees etc. The link is...

http://www.natwest.com/personal/day-to-day/current-accounts/g1/nri-welcome-account.ashx

Good luck in India.

HTH

Hotblu

kismet_2

Hi all,

thanks for the replies. I spoke to ICICI this morning and have an appointment booked with HSBC later in the week.

ICICI have assured me that I can set up an account in the uk and use the card they give me to take out money in bangalore there are no charges. I can also make free money transfers from an ICICI account to another ICICI branch in india (though strangely enough if i do the transfer online there is a £1 charge but if i call in its free). They gave me other details but its all the website.

I will be paying rent on a monthly basis and general living I imagine. With nationwide you dont pay any charges for taking out money abroad right?

Thanks for the natwest link and luck! I will look into that. Just trying to figure out the best way to do this and manage my money because I still want to save monthly in the uk, pay bills as well as have money in india when I need it with as little grief and charges as possible.

Cranston_2

another alternative is Citibank.

kismet_2

Hi all,

Signed up to HSBC premier!