How to Send Money From Australia to India
Every remittance app advertises how cheap it is. The number that actually matters, how many rupees land on the other end for a given number of dollars sent, rarely matches the headline fee, because a lot of the real cost is hidden in the exchange rate rather than the fee line.
Some links on this page may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. Fees, exchange rates, and transfer limits below are described as of when this page was checked and change often. Always confirm the current numbers on the provider's own site before sending.
The one thing that actually determines cost
Total cost is the transfer fee plus the exchange rate markup, not the fee alone. A provider that advertises "no fee" can still be more expensive than one charging a small fee, if the no-fee provider quotes a worse exchange rate to make up the difference, and this is especially worth checking here since both Wise and OFX advertise very low or no fees but price their exchange rate differently. The only honest way to compare two services is to check, for the exact amount you're sending, how many rupees the recipient actually gets from each. Wise is the one provider here that publicly commits to the real mid-market rate with no markup, recovering its revenue entirely through the disclosed fee instead, which makes it the easiest to reason about even when it isn't always the outright cheapest for every amount.
| Provider | Fee | Exchange rate | Speed | Delivery to India |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise | Small combined fixed + percentage fee, tiered by funding method; Osko bank transfer is often the cheapest | Real mid-market rate, no markup — Wise's core selling point | Wise states 74% of transfers arrive in under 20 seconds, 95% within a day | Bank deposit |
| Remitly | Flat fee that varies by amount and by the speed tier you choose; often fee-free on a first transfer | Includes a markup over mid-market — Remitly's own displayed rate, not the mid-market rate | Varies by method and funding source, including PayTo for faster funding | Bank deposit, UPI, or cash pickup |
| WorldRemit | Fee depends on receive method, not on the amount sent | Includes a markup over mid-market (not published as a mid-market rate like Wise) | Around 90% of transfers to India arrive within minutes, per WorldRemit's own figures | Bank transfer, cash pickup, mobile money |
| OFX | No OFX transfer fee advertised on most transfers | A margin-based customer rate above the interbank rate, not the raw mid-market rate — worth comparing against Wise's fee-plus-mid-market total for your amount | Typically 1–2 business days | Bank deposit |
| Bank wire (CommBank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB, and similar) | A flat wire fee, sometimes waived if you send in INR instead of AUD, since that is where the bank builds in its margin instead | The largest markup of this group, commonly well above 2% over mid-market | Typically 1–5 business days | Bank deposit only |
Cash pickup has an RBI limit that bank deposits don't
One detail worth knowing if you're choosing cash pickup over a bank deposit: RBI's Money Transfer Service Scheme caps cash-pickup-style inward remittances at USD 2,500 per transaction and 30 transactions per beneficiary per calendar year, with cash payouts above ₹50,000 required to go to a bank account instead. This cap applies specifically to the classic cash-pickup model. Ordinary bank-account-to-bank-account transfers, which is how most people actually use Wise, OFX, or a bank's own option, move through normal banking channels and are not subject to it.
Practical picks
- Sending a large, planned amount and want the rate you can actually verify: Wise, since you can check the mid-market rate independently and know exactly what markup (none) is being applied.
- Sending a genuinely large amount and want a no-fee option to compare against Wise: OFX is Australian-founded and specializes in larger transfers, but its rate includes a margin rather than the raw mid-market rate, so get a quote for your actual amount from both before deciding.
- Need cash pickup in India rather than a bank deposit: WorldRemit or Remitly both support it; Wise and OFX generally do not.
- A one-off large transfer and you'd rather deal with your existing bank: a wire will work, but expect to pay the largest markup of this group. Get a second-provider quote for the same amount before deciding it's not worth switching.
Frequently asked questions
Is the cheapest advertised fee always the best deal?
No. Compare the actual amount that lands in the recipient's account for the same amount sent, not the advertised fee, since the exchange rate markup is often the larger cost.
Do I need to report money I send to family in India?
Australia does not have a gift tax, so sending money to family in India as a personal gift is not a taxable event for you as the sender. Very large or business-related transfers can still carry separate reporting implications at the institution level, which is a different thing from a personal tax filing obligation.
Do I need to report a large transfer to AUSTRAC myself?
No. Banks and remittance providers have their own reporting obligations to AUSTRAC, including for cash transactions of AUD 10,000 or more and for international electronic transfers more broadly. That reporting happens at the institution level automatically, regardless of which provider below you use.