Changing INR to USD in India: the cheapest way, and what the rest cost you

I want to change INR → USD

The spread takes 80.69 INR if you convert inside your account with Bank of Baroda, and 549.20 INR at Punjab National Bank's banknote desk, up to 1,272.87 INR at HDFC Bank.

Same money, same day — a 468.51 INR difference for choosing how you pay rather than where.

Every figure is read from a bank's own published board, or derived from a margin it discloses — named in the evidence column, never inferred. We do not rank by any commercial relationship; the order below is the rate, and nothing else.

Which method costs least

This is the choice worth the most money, and the one most comparisons skip. Cash desks sit several points above card and transfer rates in every country we measure.

Method	Cheapest here	Costs you	How we know
Transfer / account conversion What the bank converts at when the money moves between accounts.	Bank of Baroda	80.69 INR	read from www.bankofbaroda.in
Pay by card The rate your card issuer converts at, plus the fee it discloses.	Canara Bank	348.61 INR	read from www.canarabank.bank.in
Buy banknotes at a branch The bank's own banknote board — the widest spread of the three, everywhere we measure.	Punjab National Bank	549.20 INR	read from pnb.bank.in

Cash withdrawals at an ATM are left out on purpose: they carry a per-withdrawal fee we do not collect, so listing them beside the others would flatter them.

Every bank's cash / banknotes rate

If you have to use a branch anyway, this is the order to try them in — 6 banks, cheapest first. The dearest takes 1.5% more than the cheapest.

Bank	Buys USD	Sells USD	Costs you
Punjab National Bank own board	95.4300	96.9600	549.20 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at pnb.bank.in.
Bank of Baroda own board	93.6500	97.0500	595.05 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.bankofbaroda.in.
State Bank of India own board	94.5000	97.1000	620.49 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at sbi.bank.in.
Axis Bank own board	94.0000	97.8100	978.94 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at application.axis.bank.in.
ICICI Bank own board	93.9600	97.8300	988.96 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.icici.bank.in.
HDFC Bank own board	93.3900	98.4000	1,272.87 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.hdfc.bank.in.

Cheapest (green), median (dashed) and dearest (red) selling rate on each day — 33 days on which at least two banks published, 2026-08-12 to 2026-09-25. This is why we can say who stays cheapest, not just who is cheapest today.

Every bank's transfers rate

If you have to use a branch anyway, this is the order to try them in — 7 banks, cheapest first. The dearest takes 1.6% more than the cheapest.

Bank	Buys USD	Sells USD	Costs you
Bank of Baroda own board	95.1100	96.0500	80.69 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.bankofbaroda.in.
Punjab National Bank own board	95.5200	96.2200	168.88 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at pnb.bank.in.
Canara Bank own board	95.5475	96.3275	224.49 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.canarabank.bank.in.
State Bank of India own board	95.7000	96.5500	339.20 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at sbi.bank.in.
ICICI Bank own board	94.3000	97.2600	701.73 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.icici.bank.in.
Axis Bank own board	94.2600	97.5500	848.28 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at application.axis.bank.in.
HDFC Bank own board	94.1900	97.6000	873.46 INR
Read from the board this bank publishes at www.hdfc.bank.in.

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Rates are INR per 1 USD; "costs you" is the part of your amount the spread absorbs, against 95.8950, the reference these banks price from. Collection began 2026-06-24. Indicative information for comparison, not financial advice. What each country's rates are officially anchored to is on the references page. Generated 2026-09-25.