The best remittance rate to India, on banks' own published dollar rates averaged from 20 August to 21 September 2026, comes from: 1. Bank of Maharashtra, 2. Indian Overseas Bank, 3. Union Bank of India, 4. Punjab National Bank, 5. Canara Bank, 6. Central Bank of India, 7. State Bank of India and 8. Bank of Baroda.
If overseas clients pay you as an Indian freelancer or ITeS business, you don't have to let your bank convert those dollars at its card rate. With Xflow, your client pays into your receiving account and you get the mid-market rate, with your fee shown before you convert.
Rupees reach your Indian bank account the next business day, and you get an electronic foreign inward remittance advice (eFIRA) with every withdrawal.
A remittance rate is the rupees your bank credits for each dollar that arrives, published as its TT buying rate for inward remittance.
To compare banks fairly, you need each one's rate against the mid-market rate, the fees it adds and the reasons a credit can come in lower. All three follow, along with when we're the better route.
How the top eight banks' USD to INR rates compare with the mid-market rate
Each bank's rank comes from the average of the USD TT buying rate (often shortened to TT buy rate) it published, which is the remittance rate your account is credited at.
Its markup is how far that rate sat below the same day's mid-market rate, so a smaller markup means more rupees per dollar on the same day.
The highest average is the best USD to INR exchange rate among the eight, and each bank's amount band is the payment size its published rate covers.
| Rank | Provider | Average rate paid per USD | Average markup vs mid-market | Amount band the rate applies to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bank of Maharashtra | ₹95.14 | 0.78% | Up to USD 25,000 or equivalent |
| 2 | Indian Overseas Bank | ₹95.08 | 0.25% | As published |
| 3 | Union Bank of India | ₹95.06 | 0.37% | Up to USD 5,000 |
| 4 | Punjab National Bank | ₹95.05 | 0.32% | Card rate |
| 5 | Canara Bank | ₹95.02 | 0.40% | Card rate |
| 6 | Central Bank of India | ₹94.98 | 0.44% | Up to USD 10,000 equivalent |
| 7 | State Bank of India | ₹94.94 | 0.42% | INR 10 lakh to INR 20 lakh |
| 8 | Bank of Baroda | ₹94.84 | 0.55% | Card rate |
| Recommended | Xflow | Mid-market rate on invoices up to USD 2,000 (Starter) or USD 5,000 (Growth) | 0% up to those amounts; 0.6% or 0.4% above, taken in the rate | Every size, fee set by plan |
Card rates carry a hidden markup below mid-market because each bank keeps a margin, and our guide to bank foreign exchange rates explains where that margin comes from.
PSU or private bank: which one pays more for your dollars?
All eight are public-sector (PSU) banks, with markups from 0.25% to 0.78%.
The large private banks sit well below them: Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank averaged ₹93.71 per dollar at a 1.73% markup, and HDFC Bank ₹93.62 at 1.81%.
Among the 28 banks we tracked, those four sat far below the top eight, and their dollar rate was ₹1.42 to ₹1.51 below Bank of Maharashtra's.
Which bank gives the best USD to INR rate, and at what cost
The rate is only part of what you pay. Each bank below also has an amount band, an inward charge and a certificate fee, all taken from its own schedule of charges, so you can compare like for like.
For a freelancer or ITeS business, the charges listed are the ones that apply to a trade or export receipt, not a personal remittance.
The entries cover the top seven from the table, and Bank of Baroda, eighth, stays a table row.
1. Bank of Maharashtra
Your client's SWIFT wire is credited at this public-sector bank's card rate for transactions up to USD 25,000. Its average rests on 6 published days, when the mid-market rate averaged about ₹95.89, above the window's ₹95.345.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹95.14 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.78% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - transactions up to USD 25,000
- Inward remittance charge - ₹300 per trade credit, on its schedule dated April 2019
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - ₹200 to ₹250 per FIRC
- Check today's rate - our Bank of Maharashtra forex rates page
- Best if you - keep a Bank of Maharashtra account and want the top average rate on payments up to USD 25,000
2. Indian Overseas Bank
A trade receipt at Indian Overseas Bank is credited at its card rate, with a percentage commission and a certificate fee on top. Its 0.25% markup is the thinnest of the eight.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹95.08 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.25% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - its card rate as published
- Inward remittance charge - 0.10% on trade receipts, ₹500 minimum and ₹2,500 maximum (schedule effective 1 January 2025)
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - ₹250 per eFIRC, ₹500 per FIRC
- Check today's rate - our Indian Overseas Bank forex rates page
- Best if you - receive large payments in full and want the thinnest markup
3. Union Bank of India
Union Bank of India prints its card rate for transactions up to USD 5,000, so ask which rate applies above that. A trade receipt carries a flat commission rather than a percentage.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹95.06 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.37% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - transactions up to USD 5,000
- Inward remittance charge - ₹500 on trade receipts up to USD 10,000, ₹1,500 above (schedule effective 10 December 2022)
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - ask your branch for the export-receipt fee
- Check today's rate - our Union Bank forex rates page
- Best if you - are paid mostly in invoices of USD 5,000 or less
4. Punjab National Bank
At Punjab National Bank, your client's wire is credited at the general card rate. Its 0.32% markup is the second thinnest of the eight.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹95.05 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.32% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - its general card rate
- Inward remittance charge - ₹500 per export bill up to USD 25,000, ₹1,000 above; ₹500 on an advance receipt
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - ask your branch for the export-receipt fee
- Check today's rate - our Punjab National Bank forex rates page
- Best if you - want the second-thinnest markup on large client payments
5. Canara Bank
Canara Bank's schedule of charges, effective 2 February 2026, is the most recent of the seven.
If the branch treats a client's upfront payment as an export advance, there's no fee up to ₹50,000 (about USD 525), and ₹500 a quarter applies if export documents aren't submitted within a year.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹95.02 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.40% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - its general card rate
- Inward remittance charge - ₹100 to ₹1,000 per export bill, by amount; Nil on export advances up to ₹50,000, ₹300 above
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - ₹500 per certificate, ₹1,000 for a duplicate
- Check today's rate - our Canara Bank forex rates page
- Best if you - want a thin markup and a recently dated fee schedule
6. Central Bank of India
Central Bank of India converts your client's wire at a card rate printed for transactions up to USD 10,000 equivalent, twice Union Bank of India's printed limit.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹94.98 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.44% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - transactions up to USD 10,000 equivalent
- Inward remittance charge - ₹750 per export bill up to USD 25,000, ₹1,000 above; ₹1,000 on an advance receipt up to USD 25,000
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - ask your branch for the export-receipt fee
- Check today's rate - our Central Bank of India forex rates page
- Best if you - receive mid-size invoices up to about USD 10,000
7. State Bank of India
State Bank of India prints its card rate for the INR 10 lakh to 20 lakh slab, roughly USD 10,500 to USD 21,000. Your fees depend on whether you hold an SBI export credit facility.
- Average TT buying rate - ₹94.94 per US dollar
- Gap to mid-market - 0.42% below the daily mid-market rate
- Amount the rate covers - the INR 10 lakh to 20 lakh slab
- Inward remittance charge - Nil with export credit, ₹500 otherwise (schedule effective 1 May 2025)
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - Nil with export credit, ₹200 otherwise
- Check today's rate - for SBI's TT buying rate today, see our SBI forex rates page
- Best if you - hold an SBI export credit facility, which removes both fees
Xflow (Recommended): mid-market conversion for overseas client payments
Your client pays into your Xflow receiving account, which works as a virtual foreign currency account, and we settle rupees to your Indian bank account the next business day (T+1).
The flat fee weighs more on small invoices: USD 12 is 2.4% of a USD 500 invoice.
- Rate you get - the mid-market rate on invoices up to USD 2,000 (Starter) or USD 5,000 (Growth)
- Gap to mid-market - 0% up to those amounts; 0.6% or 0.4% of the whole invoice above them, taken in the rate
- Amount the rate covers - every invoice size, with the fee set by plan
- Inward remittance charge - a flat USD 12 up to USD 2,000 (Starter) or USD 20 up to USD 5,000 (Growth), then 0.6% or 0.4% of the whole invoice taken in the rate; we charge no GST, though reverse-charge GST may apply on the flat fee
- FIRC or e-FIRC fee - an electronic foreign inward remittance advice (eFIRA) with every withdrawal, at no additional cost, so there's no bank certificate fee to pay on these receipts
- Check today's rate - fees on our pricing plans page
- Best if you - are a freelancer or ITeS business paid by overseas clients and want the fee known upfront
- What's different - final Payment Aggregator Cross Border (PA-CB) authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as of Feb 2026, the fully approved stage, and more than 20,000 customers
Get paid by overseas clients with the fee shown upfront.
Why the rupees credited can differ from your bank's card rate
Two things outside the card rate decide what lands in your account: the size of the payment, which sets the rate slab, and the charge code on your client's wire, which sets who pays the banks in between.
The inward and certificate fees in each bank's entry then come on top of both.
Check all three before a large payment arrives, because a slab change or a deduction in transit can cost more than the gap between two banks' rates.
Your payment size decides which of the bank's rate slabs applies
Banks print their card rate for a set amount band, and a payment outside it can convert at a different rate.
- State Bank of India - prints its rate for the INR 10 lakh to 20 lakh slab, so a USD 1,000 payment sits outside it.
- Union Bank of India - prints its rate for transactions up to USD 5,000.
- Central Bank of India - prints its rate for transactions up to USD 10,000 equivalent.
Here's how to get the best rate on a large payment: ask your branch for the rate on your exact amount before it lands. Our guide to bank charges for foreign remittance lists the fees that come on top.
The charge code on your client's wire decides what gets deducted
Every SWIFT wire carries a charge code in field 71A, and a correspondent bank passing it along can take its cut, so what lands can be less than the rate your bank pays suggests.
- OUR - your client pays all the charges, so the full amount should reach you.
- SHA - costs are shared, so intermediaries can deduct in transit.
- BEN - you pay every charge, deducted from what you receive.
Our page on correspondent bank charges covers how these deductions work.
Why freelancers and ITeS businesses receive client dollars through Xflow
Freelancers and ITeS businesses both get paid against invoices, so the plan that fits depends on your invoice size, and a business also needs its books and export records to line up.
Other non-bank options, Skydo among them, sit in our roundup of fintech platforms for cross-border payments.
- Starter - suits invoices under about USD 3,500: USD 12 flat up to USD 2,000, and 0.6% on invoices above USD 2,000.
- Growth - suits invoices of about USD 2,000 to USD 10,000: USD 20 flat up to USD 5,000, and 0.4% on invoices above USD 5,000.
- Scale - custom pricing for invoices of USD 10,000 and up.
- Paperwork - every withdrawal comes with an eFIRA and a payment advice at no additional cost, so you don't pay a bank's certificate fee, which runs up to ₹500 at the banks above.
- Export records - your EDPMS (Export Data Processing and Monitoring System), SOFTEX and GST steps stay as they are.
- Accounting - invoices sync with Zoho Books, and Tally is supported, which cuts manual reconciliation.
- Onboarding - online business verification takes about 10 minutes, with same-day activation.
We hold final PA-CB authorisation from the RBI as of Feb 2026 and work with AD-1 banks. If you want every difference laid out line by line, see Xflow vs traditional banks.
Receive client dollars at the mid-market rate on flat-fee invoices.
Bottom line
Bank of Maharashtra paid the best dollar to rupee exchange rate in our data, at ₹95.14, and Indian Overseas Bank kept the smallest gap to mid-market, at 0.25%.
The best remittance rate to India for you, though, depends on your payment size and the bank you already use.
- A bank still makes sense for small payments at several PSU banks - on USD 1,000, every top-eight bank's markup alone costs less than our USD 12 fee, and IOB, Union Bank, PNB and SBI stay under it with their export charges added; Bank of Maharashtra's and Central Bank of India's charges take them over.
- IOB and PNB can win at USD 20,000 - with their export charges, they come to about ₹6,905 and ₹6,526, against our ₹7,628.
- We win at private banks - HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank mark up 1.73% to 1.81%, so our USD 12 fee costs less from about USD 700 per payment.
- We win on large invoices at half the top eight - from USD 5,000, our 0.4% sits below the markup at Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, SBI and Bank of Baroda, and about level with Canara Bank.
If your bank is a private one, or your invoices run to USD 5,000 and more, compare the rupees we credit with what your bank would pay.
Try Xflow on your next client payment and compare what lands.
Frequently asked questions
The best rate for money transfer to India among banks came from Bank of Maharashtra and Indian Overseas Bank in our data. For client payments, we convert at the mid-market rate on flat-fee invoices.
Personal senders can compare apps in our Wise vs Remitly guide, or look at Money2India.
The best exchange rate to send money to India is the mid-market rate, which averaged ₹95.345 per dollar in our window.
The top eight banks paid 0.25% to 0.78% below it, and the large private banks about 1.73% to 1.81% below. Among banks, the best dollar to INR exchange rate came from Bank of Maharashtra, at ₹95.14.
For money arriving in India, the rate that matters is your bank's TT buying rate, not its TT selling rate or a currency counter's cash rate. In our data, the top eight PSU banks paid ₹94.84 to ₹95.14 per dollar.
Your cost depends on payment size. On USD 1,000, every top-eight bank's markup costs less than our USD 12 fee.
From USD 5,000, on markup alone, our 0.4% sits below the markup at four of the top eight, level with Canara Bank, and above IOB, PNB and Union Bank of India.
