Sending money from the United Kingdom to India: the payments stack
Sending GBP 120 from the United Kingdom to India cost 1.91% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 28 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in India typically run over UPI (Unified Payments Interface), IMPS (Immediate Payment Service); between now and the end of 2027 there are 14 weekdays when banks in the United Kingdom are closed but India keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 1.91% of GBP 120 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 2.14% across 21 services |
| Banks | 1.19% across 7 services |
| Collect in United Kingdom | Faster Payments, CHAPS, Bacs (Direct Credit and Direct Debit) |
| Pay out in India | UPI (Unified Payments Interface), IMPS (Immediate Payment Service), NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer), RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) |
What it costs to send GBP 120
The World Bank surveyed 28 services sending from the United Kingdom to India from 8 August 2025 to 3 September 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 1.91% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 2.14% and banks 1.19%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: the United Kingdom
- Money remittance and the execution of credit transfers and direct debits are payment services under the Payment Services Regulations 2017; a firm providing them must be an authorised payment institution or a small payment institution unless it is already another type of payment service provider or is exempt. Issuing e-money requires authorisation or registration under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. source
- Initial capital for an authorised payment institution is 20,000 euros for money remittance only, 50,000 euros for payment initiation and 125,000 euros for the services in paragraphs 1(a) to (e) of Schedule 1, such as executing payment transactions (PSRs 2017, Schedule 3). source
- An authorised e-money institution needs initial capital of at least 350,000 euros; a small e-money institution with average outstanding e-money of 500,000 euros or more holds at least 2% of that amount (EMRs 2011, Schedule 2). source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from the United Kingdom.
The payout side: India
| Payout partner | What it does in India | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nium · our guide | Pays INR to all banks in India, choosing IMPS (24x7, up to INR 500,000), RTGS (18:00 IST cut-off) or NEFT in that order, plus UPI proxy and Visa Direct; trade transactions are capped at INR 1.5 million. | source |
| Thunes · our guide | Offers bank account payouts across India with real-time processing for C2C, B2C and C2B flows, B2B payments on a T+1 basis, and cash pickup. | source |
| dLocal · our guide | Supports payouts in India by bank transfer (IFSC) and by UPI to a virtual payment address, in INR or USD, for B2B, B2C and P2P flows. | source |
| TerraPay · our guide | Provides local-currency payouts in India through its global payments network, and in February 2026 partnered with Raenest to pay freelancers in India and the Philippines. | source |
| Razorpay | Holds RBI's Payment Aggregator Cross Border (PA-CB) licence, which lets it collect inward and process outward cross-border payments for Indian merchants such as exporters and SaaS firms; PA-CB covers merchant transactions, not payouts to individuals. | source |
| Cashfree Payments | Received RBI's PA-CB licence and lets Indian businesses collect from abroad in 140+ currencies by card and through local USD, EUR, CAD and GBP accounts; PA-CB covers merchant collections, not payouts to individuals. | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in India: launching payments in India.
Payout rails in India
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPI (Unified Payments Interface) | National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) | Available round the clock; carried 85.5% of India's payment volume in July to December 2025. Payouts go to a virtual payment address linked to a bank account. | source |
| IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) | National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) | Instant transfers 24x7, including holidays, up to Rs 5 lakh per transaction on all channels except SMS and IVR. | source |
| NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) | Reserve Bank of India | Runs 24x7 on every day of the year, settling in half-hourly batches; RBI sets no minimum or maximum amount, though member banks may set their own limits. RTGS, the high-value system, has a Rs 2 lakh minimum and no upper limit. | source |
| RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) | Reserve Bank of India | Has run 24x7 since 00:30 on 14 December 2020, about a year after NEFT moved to round-the-clock operation. | source |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 14 dates when the United Kingdom is closed and India is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 11 dates when India is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | United Kingdom | India | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 24 Nov 2026 | Open | Guru Nanak's Birthday | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 30 Nov 2026 | St Andrew's Day (Scotland only) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Christmas Day | Both closed |
| Mon 28 Dec 2026 | Boxing Day (substitute day) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Mon 4 Jan 2027 | 2nd January (substitute day, Scotland only) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Tue 26 Jan 2027 | Open | Republic Day | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Open | Id-ul-Fitr | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 17 Mar 2027 | St Patrick's Day (Northern Ireland only) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Tue 23 Mar 2027 | Open | Holi | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Good Friday | Good Friday | Both closed |
| Mon 29 Mar 2027 | Easter Monday | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Thu 15 Apr 2027 | Open | Ram Navami | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 19 Apr 2027 | Open | Mahavir Jayanti | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 3 May 2027 | Early May bank holiday | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Mon 17 May 2027 | Open | Id-ul-Zuha (Bakrid) | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 20 May 2027 | Open | Buddha Purnima | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 31 May 2027 | Spring bank holiday | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Wed 16 Jun 2027 | Open | Muharram | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 12 Jul 2027 | Battle of the Boyne (Northern Ireland only) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Mon 2 Aug 2027 | Summer bank holiday (Scotland only) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Wed 25 Aug 2027 | Open | Janmashtami (Vaishnav) | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 30 Aug 2027 | Summer bank holiday | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Fri 29 Oct 2027 | Open | Diwali (Deepavali) | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 30 Nov 2027 | St Andrew's Day (Scotland only) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Mon 27 Dec 2027 | Christmas Day (substitute day) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
| Tue 28 Dec 2027 | Boxing Day (substitute day) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United Kingdom, payouts continue |
Full calendars: United Kingdom and India. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- Faster Payments is available to customers 24/7, but net settlement between participants takes place in the Bank of England RTGS system three times each business day. source
- CHAPS does not run on weekends or England and Wales bank holidays, and the customer payment deadline is 17:40, so any same-day sterling funding of an overseas account must be instructed before then. source
- RBI's onshore FCY/INR market hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. IST; dealing outside them depends on an AD Category-I bank choosing to quote, so rupees for night, weekend and holiday payouts have to be bought in advance unless a bank quotes outside those hours. source
- RDA Vostro accounts run on a credit basis with no overdrafts, and banks credit rupees only after the foreign currency reaches their nostro account. Under the Speed Remittance Procedure exchange houses ordinarily prefund through the bank's nostro account before sending payment instructions, and banks set their own collateral policy; under DDA and non-DDA arrangements banks may take collateral of 7 days' projected drawings from exchange houses with under three years of operation. source
- MTSS Overseas Principals keep collateral with a designated Indian bank equal to 3 days' average drawings or US$50,000, whichever is higher; the first US$50,000 is a foreign currency deposit and the rest can be a bank guarantee, reviewed quarterly. source
Running the corridor
Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in United Kingdom, the payout partners and banks in India and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the India balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from the United Kingdom to India?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending GBP 120 at 1.91% in Q3 2025, across 28 services. Money transfer operators averaged 2.14%.
Which rails pay out in India?
Local payouts run over UPI (Unified Payments Interface), IMPS (Immediate Payment Service), NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer), RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement).
When do I need to prefund India payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 14 weekdays when the United Kingdom is closed and India is open, the first on Mon 30 Nov 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- UK bank holidays (JSON feed) · GOV.UK
- UK bank holidays · GOV.UK
- Holidays (holiday matrix under the NI Act) · Reserve Bank of India
- RBI announces date for launching of RTGS 24x7 · Reserve Bank of India
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.