What a US$10,000 payment to India really costs: bank wire vs Wise vs Storspay

Short answer. On a US$10,000 payment in India, a bank wire typically delivers about ₹911,465 once the sending fee, the correspondent-bank cut and the receiving bank's FX spread are counted. Storspay charges US$100 (1%) and delivers ₹959,947 at the mid-market rate — about ₹48,482 more in the recipient's account — and it lands the same day instead of three to five days later.

Where the money goes on a wire

A wire to India has four costs and only one of them is printed on the confirmation: your bank's outgoing fee (US$25–45), the correspondent bank's lifting fee (US$15–30, deducted in transit), the receiving bank's inward charge, and — the big one — the FX spread, usually 2–4% below the mid-market rate, applied at a rate you did not see when you sent. Add them up and 5–7% of the payment is gone, which on US$10,000 is US$500–700.

Why a consumer transfer app is not the answer for a business

Consumer transfer apps charge less than banks — on a US$100 send to India you might pay around 1.5% all-in — and their rate is close to mid-market. But they are built for one person sending to one person: no batch payroll from a business balance, no invoice reference on every line, no receipt a bookkeeper can file, and many will not onboard a platform or an agency that pays third parties at all.

What Storspay does differently

One business balance funded in USD, CAD, GBP or EUR; one 1% line at the mid-market rate; the exact rupees figure shown before you confirm; a batch for the whole team; a receipt with the invoice reference on every payment. The same balance pays Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico and 26 other countries at 2%, so a company with a mixed team runs one payroll, not four.

What is different about India

India is the largest market for remote professional services on earth and a bank-first corridor: every salaried professional and every registered company has an IFSC-coded bank account, and domestic rails (IMPS, NEFT) clear in minutes. What matters to an Indian recipient is the rupee amount that actually lands, because wires from the US or Europe routinely arrive short after correspondent-bank charges and a hidden FX spread. Storspay converts once at the mid-market rate and shows the 1% separately, so the rupee figure in the notification is the figure in the account.

How a payment to India works on Storspay

1. Fund your balance in USD (ACH or wire), CAD (Interac e-Transfer or EFT), GBP (UK bank transfer) or EUR (SEPA) — to account details in your own business name. Funding is free.
2. Add the recipient once: their name as it appears on the account, the bank (HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra and every other IFSC-coded bank) and the account number. Storspay checks the account name before you confirm.
3. Type the amount in either box. Enter what you want to send and see the rupees that land, or type the rupees figure on the invoice and see what it costs you. The rate is the mid-market rate; the 1% is on its own line.
4. Confirm. The money goes over IMPS or NEFT and usually lands within minutes — the same business day at most. The recipient gets a notification with the exact amount, and you get a receipt with the invoice reference.

Nobody in India has to sign up, install an app or touch anything other than their own bank account. Everything on the recipient side looks like an ordinary domestic transfer.

What it costs

Storspay charges 1% all-in on payments to India, with a minimum of US$2, at the mid-market rate. That one line covers conversion, settlement and delivery; there is no FX markup, no intermediary-bank charge and nothing deducted on the recipient side.

Rates in this guide are the mid-market rate on the day of writing (1 USD = 96.9643 INR); the calculator on the homepage shows today's. Payments above ₹1,500,000 are split automatically under the local cap, under one reference and one fee.

See what your team in India receives →

Questions businesses ask before the first payment to India

Is 1% really the whole cost?

Yes. The rate is the mid-market rate and the 1% (minimum US$2) is the only line. The recipient's bank does not charge for a domestic credit; if they ask their bank for an export certificate, that bank may charge its own small fee.

What rate do you use?

The mid-market rate at the moment you confirm, locked for that payment and printed on the receipt. The calculator on the homepage shows the live rate.

How does Storspay compare on a US$500 payment?

The 1% is US$5 — above the US$2 minimum — and the recipient gets ₹47,997. A wire's fixed fees alone would eat 10% of a payment that size.

Can I pay a UPI ID instead of an account number?

Not yet. Storspay pays Indian bank accounts by account number and IFSC code; UPI handles are on the roadmap. Every UPI-linked account has an ordinary account number you can use today.

Is there a limit per payment to India?

Payments above ₹1,500,000 are split automatically under the local cap, under one reference and one fee — a large invoice never becomes several trips to the bank.

Does the recipient pay anything?

No. Storspay charges you 1% all-in (minimum US$2); the recipient receives the rupee amount shown. Their bank may apply its own inward-remittance charge for issuing an FIRC — ask them, it is usually a few hundred rupees.

Who this is for — and who it is not for

Storspay is for businesses and organisations: companies, agencies, schools, hospitals, facilitators, foundations and sole traders paying other businesses and professionals for work, goods and services. A sole trader counts as a business and signs up in their own name.

What Storspay is not is a personal money-transfer service. We do not open personal accounts, and every payment has to be a business transaction: an invoice, a contract, a fee note, work delivered. Money to family and personal transfers are not what this is, and we would rather say so now than at verification.