Currency exchange, money transfer.

Buy foreign currency notes before you fly, and sell leftover notes when you are back. The rate is quoted against the live market at the time of the exchange.

Good to know Travellers can carry up to USD 3,000 in foreign currency notes per trip. Anything beyond that goes on a travel card.

• Passport
• Visa
• Air ticket
• PAN

Wire transfers abroad for permitted purposes such as family support, gifts, fees and medical costs. Payments move over the SWIFT network and usually settle in one to three working days.

Good to know Resident individuals can remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme, across all purposes combined.

• PAN
• Passport
• Beneficiary bank details
• Purpose document

Money sent from overseas, paid out here. Depending on the channel your sender used, it either lands in your bank account or is collected at the counter against ID.

Good to know Counter payouts run under the Money Transfer Service Scheme: USD 2,500 per transfer, up to 30 a year per person, with cash up to ₹50,000 and the rest paid by cheque or account credit.

• Photo ID
• Sender name and country
• Reference number

Remittances out of India for permitted purposes: education, medical treatment, travel, gifts and maintenance of close relatives. Each one is filed against an A2 declaration naming that purpose.

Good to know The USD 250,000 yearly cap covers every purpose together, and tax collected at source applies once remittances cross ₹10 lakh in a financial year. Rates differ by purpose, so check the current one before you send.

• PAN
• Passport
• A2 declaration
• Proof of purpose

A prepaid card loaded with foreign currency before you leave. It locks the rate at the moment you load it, works at shops and ATMs abroad, and can be blocked and replaced if it goes missing.

Good to know A travel card is not treated as cash at customs, so it carries what the USD 3,000 note limit cannot. Leftover balance can be encashed when you return.

• Passport
• Visa
• Air ticket
• PAN

Cover for emergency treatment abroad, medical evacuation, trip delays and cancellation, lost baggage and a lost passport. Student policies run for the length of the course.

Good to know A Schengen visa needs medical cover of at least €30,000, valid for the whole stay. Several other countries ask for proof of cover at the visa stage too.

• Passport details
• Travel dates
• Traveller ages

Fees sent straight to the university or the bank holding a Canadian GIC, with the SWIFT copy and A2 form handed back for the visa file. Parents can remit for a student with relationship proof.

Good to know For a GIC the payer and the account holder names have to match, and third party payments are not accepted. Education remittances sit under the same yearly cap as everything else.

• Offer letter
• Fee invoice
• Passport
• PAN

Foreign exchange for business trips, staff deputations and company payments on one side, and personal travel, gifts and family support on the other.

Good to know The route and the paperwork change with the purpose, and business payments carry documents a personal one does not. Bring the invoice or trip papers and the rest is worked out at the counter.

• KYC
• Invoice or trip papers
• Company documents

Money a relative abroad has sent through Western Union, collected here. They pay at their end and share a tracking number, and you pick it up against ID.

Good to know Bring the exact amount you are expecting along with the tracking number. The counter limits are the same USD 2,500 per transfer and ₹50,000 cash rules that apply to any scheme payout.

• MTCN
• Sender name and country
• Expected amount
• Photo ID

The same idea over MoneyGram's network, using the reference number your sender gives you after paying at their end.

Good to know Use whichever network the sender chose, since a transfer cannot be moved between them. The payout limits on both are identical.

• Reference number
• Sender name and country
• Expected amount
• Photo ID

The four shapes explained in plain language: term for pure cover, endowment for a fixed maturity amount, money back for payouts along the way, and unit linked plans that follow the market.

Good to know Unit linked plans carry a five year lock in and the investment risk sits with the policyholder. Brochure return figures are illustrations set by the regulator, not promises.

• ID and address proof
• Age proof
• Income proof