Thomas Cook Forex International Transfers: What you need to know

You’ve heard of Thomas Cook as a travel agency, but now they also offer global money transfers to and from India.

With limited country options and additional fees, you can easily find Thomas Cook Forex to be an expensive choice for sending money abroad. Read on to see how Thomas Cook Forex works and see for yourself if it can be an option for your next global transfer.

Want to send money to India? Wise can make that fast, cheap and convenient. Wise uses the real exchange rate- the same one you see on Google and the banks use themselves- on every transfer and only has 1 low fee for sending money directly to bank accounts in over 60 different currencies.

Open your free Wise account now

Send money abroad with Thomas Cook Forex

You can use Thomas Cook Forex to send money from India in 9 different currencies. On top of sending US Dollars from India, you can send money in:

Euros	British Pound
Canadian Dollar	Singapore Dollar
New Zealand Dollar	Swiss Franc
Australian Dollar	Japanese Yen

Thomas Cook Forex is not the right solution for you if you need to send money to major countries in Asia, Africa, or South America.

With Thomas Cook Forex, you will have to follow the Foreign Exchange Management Act, or FEMA for short, guidelines for sending money from India.

The FEMA guidelines and Thomas Cook Forex’s rules say that you can only send money abroad for these specific reasons:

🎓Educational fees, tuition and maintenance 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Maintenance of relatives 🩺Medical needs

Keep this in mind as you will be asked by Thomas Cook to identify which one of these buckets your transaction falls into and make sure you have the documentation to prove it.

The documentation includes a valid Pan Card, Passport, ID Proof, Bank Statement and/or proof of the university, medical or relatives’ information you’ll be sending money to.

And once you start your transaction, you will have 40 minutes to complete it at the exchange rate given by Thomas Cook, or you will have to start over. But first, you will need to open an account with Thomas Cook Forex.¹

How to open a Thomas Cook Forex account

The easiest way to get started is to register and log in with Thomas Cook Forex on their website. You will need to provide details and confirm your email or mobile phone number.

You can get a simplified quote from Thomas Cook Forex on the website without signing in, but if you want to move forward with the transfer, you will need to be registered and provide your details.

You can also register by going to a Thomas Cook Forex branch near you, or you can start the process by giving them a call at 1800-2099-100.²

Thomas Cook Forex transfer limit

Thomas Cook Forex follows FEMA’s guidelines where the maximum you can send abroad from India is capped at $250,000 USD, or the equivalent amount in the currency you’re sending, cumulative in a year.³

Thomas Cook Forex charges and fees

There are three many fees to keep an eye on with Thomas Cook.

The first is a foreign bank charge fee which is added to your transaction in the currency you are sending in.

The second is a remittance charge from Thomas Cook Forex for the transaction itself. So for instance, if you are looking to send $ 1000 USD from India to the US, you can expect a remittance charge of ₹500 added to your transfer.⁴

Last but not least is a fee that is hidden in Thomas Cook’s exchange rate. By making their rate weaker than the real exchange rate, they are able to sneak in a fee that lets them take a cut of every rupee you convert.

Check out the next sections to see how much the exchange rate fee can end up costing you.

Time it takes with Thomas Cook Forex

Unfortunately Thomas Cook Forex doesn’t tell you the exact amount of time your transaction will take upfront on the website. You will either have to go through with the transaction or give them a call on the phone to know the delivery time.

The time it does take for the money to arrive depends on how much and where you are sending it.

You won’t have to worry about excess fees or long wait times when you use Wise for your global transfers. When you send money to a local bank account in one of the 150 countries that Wise reaches, you will know your one low fee and your delivery time right upfront before you get started.

The true cost of international transfers with Thomas Cook Forex

How much will a Thomas Cook Forex global transfer cost you? Let’s break it down.

If you want to send $1000 USD to a family member studying in the United States, Thomas Cook can get it there- but with fees attached. Here is what you can expect, and how it stacks up against Wise.

	Thomas Cook Forex⁵	Wise
Amount to Send	$1000 USD	$1000 USD
Foreign Bank Fee	$8 USD	$0
Amount to Convert	$1008 USD	$1000 USD
Exchange Rate for $1 USD	₹ 75.970	₹ 73.4786
Transfer Fee	₹ 500	₹1,851.95
Cost in Rupees	₹ 77,217	₹ 75,330.58

As of 7 September, 2020

Simply by using Wise for sending money to the US you can spend close to ₹2,000 less on your transfer. That is a direct saving to you and your wallet.

Thomas Cook Forex’s additional foreign bank fee and hidden exchange rate fee can’t make up for their lower transfer fee. So in the end, on a transfer like the one above you can save more money when you use Wise.

Open your free Wise account now

A cheap, fast and transparent alternative: Wise

Over 8 million people choose to use Wise when they need to send money abroad.

With a real mid-market exchange rate on every transfer and one simple fee, you can send more to your relatives. Or keep the savings here in India.

Wise is free to sign up too. You can sign up right from the website or the Wise award-winning app so you can transfer and send money wherever you are. Sign up today and see how much you can save on your next transfer.

Sources used for this article:

1. Thomas Cook Forex
2. Register with Thomas Cook
3. Transfer Limit
4. Charges & Fees
5. Transfer with Thomas Cook Forex

All sources checked as of 7 September, 2020