easiest thing is to open up a nationwide account and get one of there credit cards, you dont pay any commision when drawing money in foreign countries and you also get the best rate.

its fairly easy to open an account in goa but if you can use it in the rest of india is a different matter, never tried but could imagine it being problematic.

Also transferring funds from the uk to a bank account in india is also problematic, can take a few weeks for funds to reach the bank etc etc also no way of tracing it from the uk if it doesnt get to its intended destination.

Hi Paula and Stewart
Have you ever thought of opening a bank account up in England in the Bank of India there is one in Leicester so must be others about and that should solve all your problems
sharon

not sure what or if there are charges but the hsbc is supposed to be a world bank may be worth looking at

We have opened an account with centurion bank in calangute, and we have sent money via our account in england with lloydstsb.The charges for sending money are about £20 but we have'nt had any problems the money has gone into our account with centurion within a few days, it seems centurion and lloydstsb have some kind of agreement for sending money. We were in Goa for 4months and used the bank frequently, there seemed to be a lot of brits using that bank,we havent any complaints at all.

I believe that the ICICI Bank offers free banking from UK to India and has branches throuhout India, the UK branch is currently London but branches to open 2005 in Manchester and Leicester are proposed, I know that they have a branch in Panjim Goa and 3 ATM machines to draw your dosh out from.

hi, i stayed for three months this year and before we went we opended up a nationwide current account. It comes with a debit card, and can be used at almost all atm machines! every machine we tried took the card.

They dont charge you anything for withdrawing the money, and you can transfer between your bank accounts over the internet, with internet banking facilities.

I have a halifax card, and hsbc and these banks charge for withdrawing, but nationwide doesnt!

try the hdfc bank we have a account with them very good too

I have found the ICICI bank very good INVALID URL head office in Knightsbridge, london tel 0207-7201100 or freephone to india 08003562442. 2 largest bank in India is Bank of Indiad. You get a ATM cheque books the lot, credit card if needed,cash machines all over the place, and if you loose a card or it breaks etc. no problem. I had a New check book in 24 hours and a cash card delivered at 11-30pm at night.
I transfer cash via cheques their PO Box via net and its there ASAP, so safe, no £20 to £30 like some Uk Banks and worse the Buliding society.
some can charge you up to 20% so I warned you. City Bank you need £300 min for me some need £600 and other banks up to a £1,000. Rupees 10,000 in the ICIC and its good interest. Mapusa Branch has David D'souza as overseas manger, good man. Need help get back.
One tip stay with the Biggest and you wont get bit, I would strogly advice to leave the Bulding society alone they are cluless and useless.
Best wishes. Barry from Ilford.

Have a look at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com under sending money overseas. It says that Lloyds TSB have teamed up with ICICI to allow zero fee currency moves. It's through its indian banking service but it's not available at all branches. Not sure if the info's of any use, but worth checking out I suppose.

Open a flex account with the Nationwide Building Society. Get yourself a debit card and you can withdraw cash from ATM'S around the world.You do not have to pay the Nationwide for this service,unlike all the other major high street banks who charge you commision.You also get the best exchange rate available better than anyone else. You can also do internet banking, so you can check your account from any internet cafe in the world,do transactions.transfer money from one bank account to another ect. All this info. is available from http://www.nationwide.co.uk
We stay in Goa for six months every year and use our debit card to withdraw cash as we need it, 24 hour a day service, so we do not have to take a large amount of cash with us. So no chance of being robbed.