Sending money from the United States to India: the payments stack
Sending USD 200 from the United States to India cost 3.68% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 46 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 11 weekdays when banks in the United States are closed but India keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 3.68% of USD 200 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 3.46% across 41 services |
| Banks | 5.46% across 5 services |
| Collect in United States | FedNow Service, FedNow network limit, RTP network, Fedwire Funds Service, FedACH and Same Day ACH, Same Day ACH limit |
| Pay out in India | UPI (Unified Payments Interface), IMPS (Immediate Payment Service), NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer), RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) |
| Corridor playbook | USD to INR: funding and prefunding |
What it costs to send USD 200
The World Bank surveyed 46 services sending from the United States to India from 4 August 2025 to 28 August 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 3.68% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 3.46% and banks 5.46%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: the United States
- With few exceptions, each money services business must register with the US Treasury through FinCEN by filing FinCEN Form 107 within 180 days of being established, and must renew the registration every two years; a business that is an MSB only because it acts as agent of another MSB does not register. source
- Money transmission is also licensed state by state. As of September 2026, 31 states have enacted the CSBS Money Transmission Modernization Act in full or in part, and money transmitters licensed in at least one adopting state account for 99% of reported money transmission activity. source
- The Money Transmission Modernization Act sets a minimum tangible net worth of the greater of US$100,000 or 3% of total assets for the first US$100 million, 2% of assets from US$100 million to US$1 billion and 0.5% of assets above US$1 billion, and encourages states to run licensing, surety bonds and reporting through NMLS. source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from the United States.
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 11 dates when the United States is closed and India is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 12 dates when India is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | United States | India | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 11 Nov 2026 | Veterans Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Tue 24 Nov 2026 | Open | Guru Nanak's Birthday | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 26 Nov 2026 | Thanksgiving Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Christmas Day | Both closed |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Mon 18 Jan 2027 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Tue 26 Jan 2027 | Open | Republic Day | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 15 Feb 2027 | Washington's Birthday (Presidents Day) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Open | Id-ul-Fitr | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 23 Mar 2027 | Open | Holi | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Open | Good Friday | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| 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 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 | Memorial Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Wed 16 Jun 2027 | Open | Muharram | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 5 Jul 2027 | Independence Day (observed) | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Wed 25 Aug 2027 | Open | Janmashtami (Vaishnav) | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 6 Sep 2027 | Labor Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Mon 11 Oct 2027 | Columbus Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Fri 29 Oct 2027 | Open | Diwali (Deepavali) | India banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 11 Nov 2027 | Veterans Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Thu 25 Nov 2027 | Thanksgiving Day | Open | Prefund India the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
Full calendars: United States and India. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- Fedwire does not run on Saturdays, Sundays or Federal Reserve holidays; the Monday business day opens at 9:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and every business day closes at 7:00 p.m. ET, with customer transfers cut off at 6:45 p.m. ET. source
- Federal Reserve holidays in the rest of 2026 are Veterans Day (11 November), Thanksgiving (26 November) and Christmas (Friday 25 December); in 2027, Juneteenth (19 June) and Christmas (25 December) fall on Saturdays, so the Reserve Banks open on the Friday before. 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 States, 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 States to India?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending USD 200 at 3.68% in Q3 2025, across 46 services. Money transfer operators averaged 3.46%.
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 11 weekdays when the United States is closed and India is open, the first on Wed 11 Nov 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- Holiday Schedules (Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 to 2030, plus FedACH holiday processing) · Federal Reserve Financial Services
- Fedwire Funds Service and National Settlement Service Operating Hours · Federal Reserve Financial Services
- 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.