International Money Transfer Through Google Pay

Do you work in the states and send money to your family regularly?

Or do you get those occasional dollars on your birthday from your US relatives? 

How many times have you been stuck finding out if the payment has been made or not?

Well, here is the good news for you.

Transfer of Currency through Google Pay

With the fast movement of things in the fintech industry you can instantly transfer money to your near and dear ones with a click.

If you have family and friends using Google Pay, you probably already know what we are talking about.

Guessed it right, now Google Pay users in India can receive money from users in the USA. With this, the search giant has expanded its Google Pay features to now include remittance services – an industry which sees about $700 billion worth payments annually.

With Indians making a mark in every sphere, it would be interesting to note that Indians form the biggest group of immigrants who send money back home.

Going by the United Nations’ International Organization for Migrants, Indians sent back $78.6 billion in 2018, highest than any other country.

Fees and Taxes on Transfer of Currency

For these payments Google has partnered with Western Union and Wise (formerly known as TransferWise). While sending their money to India or Singapore Google Pay users can choose either of the two options available – Western Union or Wise.

Now the obvious question comes here about fees… and the dreading taxes?

Well, here you got nothing to worry about if you are on the receiving end.

Luckily, the Indian Government has its policies relaxed. It has not provided for any fees or taxation on receiving any money from the states through Google Pay.

However, if you are reading this sitting in the states, you might want to note that you will be levied some charges if you intend to send the money to India or Singapore.

The exchange rate and transfer fee will be displayed while sending money. The receivers in India and Singapore will receive the full amount that the US user intends to send.

So, when sending money, the US user will be asked to enter the exact amount they want to send. The fee and exchange rate will be calculated based on this amount.

New Service Advantage

As of now Google Pay is offering some really enticing offers. It has tied up with Western Union to provide free unlimited transfers till June 16^th, 2021.

If you decide to transfer via Wise, your fees on the first transfer up to $500 will be ditched.

On its part, Google will not levy any transfer fee.

It is worth noting that for now, remittances can only be made from the US to India and Singapore, not the other way around.

So next time you are sending an amount to India or new to receive some from the US, you know the fastest gateway to use!

Got a question? Shoot’em on TaxQ&A and we promise to answer them all in the simplest way!