I posted earlier about FX Retail.
My today's failed journey in converting INR to USD.
Earlier i set up with BoB 10p/USD markup. It is a manual process. I have to print/scan couple of documents and email them to the FX manager for processing. Typically 2 days processing including the deal booking on FX Retail. I hope this can be compressed to single day of i act in the morning.
But today i was not in home to print/scan the documents. FX manager off on 4th. Realistically i can convert to USD by 5t or 6th May and I buy Irish ETF (Nasdaq 100) in European markets by 7 May.
It felt too long given both USD and Nasdaq raising. 1 week is definitely a lost opportunity.
I went back to my earlier setup with ICICI on money 2 world where i had 90p discount setup. It got removed likely due to set expiry date. Again working with bank will also take easily a week.
I went to BHIM > Bills > Financial > Forex
Usually i do test run for $100 for any new system. This time i mistakenly assumed it will work magically. So went with the flow and tried to book USD in 1000s of dollars. Interestingly the markup is only 20p not 30p as i was assuming earlier (they added a buffer 10p). Price difference between this and BoB setup is $1 only. So i was happy to execute this.
Then i found Icici bank not linked to BHIM. So, i went and added it. (At this point i didn't realise the 5k limit for new UPI registrations)
Then attempted booking. It went till UPI mandate screen and failed with
Dear Customer, your AutoPay mandate registration has failed due to falcon decline-ICICI Bank.
I thought i will retry later. But when I checked the balance in UPI saving, it was showing lower balance as if it was deducted. So i went and checked in the bank. Money was linened but not deducted. I wasn't sure when it will be removed, i ended up sending emails to multiple parties involved. I hate multiple party transactions. FX Retail, ICICI Bank, BHIM, Bharat Connect. FX Retail alone replied saying that they checked with NPCI on this but no further update.
Eventually in the evening amount was available again. Not sure if this is the norm or someone acted on the email i sent.
I will try again on Monday. If this works, it will be really good and fast option under 5 lakhs INR.
I will try again with ICICI to set up 20p in direct FX Retail, but they are adamant not to. Probably showing them that i am already doing it at 20p/USD via them will push them to set up. I don't know. I want to make it only bank and FX Retail involved transaction not more parties.
Anyone successfully bought USD via Bharat Connect?