International exposure can give you an edge when it comes to diversifying your portfolio. When you are investing in cross-border, you will be making transactions in their currency.
Simply put, when you are investing in U.S. stocks, you will be transacting in U.S. dollars and not Indian rupees.
Wondering how you buy and sell using U.S. dollars from your home? Read on to find out all your questions answered.
You cannot use your INR/Indian Rupee Groww balance to buy u.s. Stocks. You need USD to buy US stocks. This is why you are required to fund your Groww USD balance to start investing in US stocks. There is no option to move funds between your INR balance and USD balance.
The process of adding USD is different from adding Indian rupees for the simple reason that your money is moving outside India. It involves a different country and its own rules and regulations. So you will have to use their local currency to buy stocks listed in their country.
You need to transfer money from your bank account. Once you place a request for adding U.S. dollars, it is transferred to the account of the U.S-based beneficiary – Apex Clearing. Once your money is received in the U.S., our broker-dealer in the U.S. will update it in your USD balance.
Money flowing outside India has to go through multiple compliance checks and follow RBI guidelines. So, it will take 2-4 working days for the money to reflect in your USD balance after you have initiated the transfer from your bank account.
Currently, online remittance is available with ICICI, HDFC, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank. We are working to add many more banks to this list. Do note that you need to use the bank account which you had selected during account opening. Using any other bank account will lead to the decline of funds transfer. The name on your bank account should match that on your PAN card and you can transfer funds using only an Indian bank account.
In case your bank is not listed here, you can visit your bank and submit an A2 form with beneficiary details and the amount that you wish to transfer to USD balance.
Whichever method you use, offline or online, it will take 2-4 working days to reach your Groww USD balance.
Form A2 is a FEMA declaration cum application form for purchasing foreign exchange for remittance purposes. FEMA stands for Foreign Exchange Management Act.
You are allowed to change your selected bank account once or twice only. This is done due to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and compliance requirements. However, if it is absolutely necessary for you to change your bank account, in case of bank account closure etc, please contact us and we will escalate your request.
(Do note that This constraint does not apply to the number of banks that you can use on Groww for other products like MFs, Indian stocks etc.)
Groww does not charge anything for funding your USD balance. For any foreign funding transaction, the banks generally charge a forex conversion rate and a service charge plus GST per outward remittance. It can range from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000, depending on your bank. There are no other hidden charges for funds transfer.
Every bank decides the foreign exchange rate that it will offer on a daily basis. As you must be aware, when buying foreign currency, the exchange rate offered is slightly higher than the forex rate that you see on the internet. This rate is not decided by Groww. You can get in touch with your bank/ relationship manager to offer you a better rate.
Conclusion
With the digitisation of payments in India, investing in India and abroad has become extremely easy if compared to older times. From the comfort of your homes, you can add U.S. dollars to your account and buy U.S. stocks. Do conduct necessary research into U.S. markets, economy and respective companies before investing in U.S. stocks.
Happy Investing!