Federal Bank International Transfer: All you need to know (2024)

Federal Bank is a well-known bank in India with close to 1300 branches across the country. The bank lets account holders send money overseas from their Federal Bank accounts, and also receive money from abroad.

Here is a quick look at international transfers with Federal Bank, including how much it costs and how long it takes.

Sending money from India with Federal Bank

Federal Bank has the option for bank account holders to send money overseas with an outward remittance facility. Under the name of Fed-e-Remit, all Indian residents with a savings account, or NRIs with an NRE account at Federal Bank can send money internationally through the online banking system.

Fed-e-Remit

Fed-e-Remit essentially uses the SWIFT wire transfer system to do outward remittances. For Fed-e-Remit, you can make transfers to 13 different currencies, including:

• Australian Dollars
• Canadian Dollars
• Swiss Francs
• Euros
• British Pound
• Japanese Yen
• New Zealand Dollars
• South African Rand
• US Dollars
• Singapore Dollars
• UAE Dirham
• Qatari Riyal

The Fed-e-Remit is not able to make transfers in any other currencies except the ones listed above.

To use the Fed-e-Remit system, you have to first be eligible by having:

• A KYC compliant account
• An active account with Federal Bank
• The internet banking facility, FedNet, enabled
• A linked PAN card for the account holder

If that is in order, you can start a transfer with these few steps:

1. Login or Sign up with theone-time registration for Fed-e-Remit
2. Add your beneficiary’s details
3. Enter in transaction details
4. Submit the transaction

All outward remittances must be in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS). That means that Indian residents are not allowed to send more than $250,000 USD equivalent overseas from India and that the purpose of the remittance must follow guidelines.

Because it's an online system, Fed-e-Remit lets you make transfers any time of day, and has easy ways to track and register beneficiaries. But there are fees associated with making transfers, separate from your regular fees for banking with Federal Bank.¹

Federal bank international money transfer charges

There are at least 2 fees for sending outward remittances with Fed-e-Remit at Federal Bank. There is a SWIFT remittance fee and an exchange rate fee.

The SWIFT remittance fee is ₹500 for any transaction. The maximum you can send per day is $25,000 USD equivalent using Fed-e-Remit. If you do need to send more, you will have to go to a Federal Bank branch. ²

The second fee is hidden in the exchange rate you get with Federal Bank. The bank sets its exchange rate weaker than the exchange rate you see on Google in order to sneak in a hidden fee. And take a cut of every rupee you convert.

This can seem small but it can add up in a transaction to a hefty fee. Here is a quick table looking at how much it costs in rupees to send money $1,000 USD with Federal Bank’s Fed-e-Remit versus using Wise, which only uses the real exchange rate:

as of 28 February, 2022

With a marked up exchange rate, Federal Bank costs you more to transfer money overseas than with using Wise. Even with a lower transfer fee. You can save close to ₹500 simply by using a faster and cheaper service like Wise when sending money overseas.

Time taken

Fed-e-Remit uses the SWIFT transfer system which can take between 2-5 business days for processing. You can keep track of your transfer on the Fed-e-Remit portal.

Sending money to India with Federal Bank

It is easy to receive money in India with Federal Bank. Federal Bank accounts can receive funds from abroad as long as the following information is correctly provided:

• The recipient’s name and details
• The Federal Bank's account number
• The SWIFT code: FDRLINBBIBD
• Contact details

Federal Bank does not have banking services available outside of India. But if you are a Non-Resident Indian, or NRI, there are NRE and NRO accounts available.³

Fees and charges

There are no fees to receive money into a Federal Bank account. The fees for transferring are paid for by the sender.

Time taken

The time depends on how the transfer is done to a Federal Bank account. Some transfer providers like Wise can have your transfer to a local Indian Federal Bank account within a few minutes on popular routes, but traditional SWIFT transfers can take 2-5 business days.

Manage money internationally easily with Wise

Sending money to and from India is now fast, simple and cheap with the Wise Web/Android/ iOS app. Wise has just one low transfer fee and the real exchange rate so you can make low-cost transfers to local bank accounts right from your phone or computer.

Wise uses smart technology to save you money on global transfers and keep your transaction safe. And fast- on popular routes, Wise transfers can arrive within an hour into a local bank account.

And if you are looking for a way to make sending and using money even easier globally, check out if the Wise Multi-Currency Account is available in your country.

Sources used for this article:

1. Fed-e-Remit
2. Federal bank charge
3. Federal bank SWIFT

All sources checked as of 28 February, 2022