Heavens !! *Tearing away my hair in exasperation*

I live in the Middle East and normally use Western Union or similar to send cash to Sri Lanka. But not sure why you cannot use Western Union from India.

If regulations permit perhaps you use the traditional fund transfer people (hawala).

Send a bank draft. Your Indian bank will issue a bank draft as long as you given the reason and your particulars.

Bank draft will be a good idea, but will not be useful since the requirement is urgent. However, if no other options are available then a draft is a good and safe bet.

Western Union will be right way

Hi There ! Thanks for responding everyone
@ Sammoon I cant send a bank draft as for Swift and drafts the bank needs to know the relation with the receiver and they only carry out the transfer if the receiver is a relative. some rules !!!

@Farhaz Sadly I dont know any traditional fund transfer people.How does it work ?

@ Sweet lanka Western union in India is only to receive payments.

I know they exist in India and Sri Lanka and indeed in a number of other countries but I also understand that local regulations in some jurisdictions may sometimes prohibit fund transfer through this method, owing to anti-money laundering rules.

The way it used to work is cash is collected by a party in your town. Their agent in the recipients town pays out. Just like Western Union. The difference is these guys are usually not fully regulated and hence maybe illegal and also risky.

I am not aware of any such fund transfer people on a personal basis, hence am unable to suggest. Best way is to ask money exchangers in your city. They may be able to help out. As with anything to do with money, exercise caution. And importantly, stay within the law.

Thank you Farhaz for your reply and good advice I am a law abiding citizen hence trying to get hold of all the legal possible ways to transfer money. Found none so far I never imagined it was this tough ! Have you any experience with Skrill ?

I do not have experience using Skrill. I just had a look at their website. They are owned by a very respected private equity group in Bahrain. Going by my knowledge of the owning entity, I would assume Skrill is probably well managed and their operations are probably fully regulated and legal.  If you do try them out, please do let us know how it goes. Good luck!

Hi Skrill needs the receiver to have a bank account as well ! Other than that it looks good I hope someone who has experienced skrill's service would impart some information here. I am a little confused

You can use Western Union to transfer funds from countries which have prohibitive exchange laws such as India and Sri lanka. I have done it and continue to use the service even from out here in Colombo. Just use the western Union site and do an online transfer using your credit card. It's safe, reliable, convenient and fast. The MTCN is generated in 30 minutes. No rocket science involved

Thank you so much Gabby Pritchard This info has cheered me up! One doubt though.. They let you transfer money because you are not an Indian or Srilankan I assume ? Is it the same for us? We are bound by so many rules and regulations that outward remittance seems like an impossible dream ! I will wait for your reply and then go give it a try Have a great day !

U can very well initiate a bank transfer from india if is there no relations as well " Gift"

This will come under A2

jaison0133 Thank you ! Some banks dont acknowledge 'Gifts' and my friend in SriLanka doesnt have a bank account. So there

ok, just to clarify matters I had my colleague (a bonafide Sri lankan) use his credit card (HSBC) to initiate a transfer using the Western Union site. No hassle!! It's like you making an online purchase from any vendor.... go for it!

Thanks for the tip Gabby. I too might try it out.

Thanks for your help Gabby I will try it.
Thanks Farhaz for your helpful posts

Have a great day !

did it work?

Hello Gabby. Unfortunately ! It did not work I am very sad

Yes - the online transfer facility is not available in all countries. Only from a selected few.

Guys, it's right there on the Western Union site...and as long as your credit card is international and not local then it works.

The WU website has a list of 23 countries from which one can send money online. Thats all thats there. And neither Sri Lanka nor India are on that list of 23 countries.

I would assume, if your credit card is issued from one of the 23 countries listed, then too you would be able to send funds even if you live anywhere else. Otherwise we cannot. And unfortunately, not everyone has credit cards issued from one of these 23 countries. So this facility from WU is not of help to a vast majority of potential customers.

Thanks Gabby.

understood. I'm sorry I wasn't aware that they (the cards) differentiated like that.

I think its got something to do with exchange control regulations in countries such as Sri Lanka and India.

glittershimmer wrote:

Hi everyone who is reading ! I have tried each and everyway to send some cash to my friend in urgent need in Sri Lanka but failed !! India is a receiving country so there is no chance that I can use Western union and the likes of it ! Swift wont work because my friend does not have a bank account ! Pay pal doesnt work in Sri Lanka ! What is one supposed to do ? Can someone please shine some light on this ? Thanks for taking out time to read my post.

glizimmer.. cant reply you since your inbox is fulll thanks.