@sbmenon:
It depends on the amount you want to transfer. For transferring amounts up to
$ 3000 ( $ 2999 to be precise ), a good option would be
xoom.com. They acquired the old money transfer portal that i use to employ in the past,
cash2india.com, which now automatically gets redirected to
xoom.com. Especially,
if you have a savings or checking account with any US bank, you can create an account, and transfer amounts up to $ 2,999 at a very nominal, or even zero wiring charges (
no charges for amounts ranging between $750 and $2999 ). I assume they offer these services, making use of the differences in the volatile ForEx exchange rates prevailing in the international market now, by blocking the best rates (for them to make profits) over a time period of 24-48 hours, and processing the foreign exchange. Anyway, from the customer's point of view also, they offer very good exchange rates.
Last month, I was able to send home INR 10,026 by paying $223 + $2 service charge. it means that I got an exchange rate of Rs 44.96 per USD, when the day's market rate was around 45.05 median (which is an excellent bargain, considering that the buy rate will always be lesser than the sell rate)
Try out xoom.com. You have to register first, since all the money transactions from the US are monitored, however trivial the amount might be
