India News Bulletin Desk

NRI and wondering which account type is best suited for your needs? Our all-in-one NRI savings accounts guide will give you a description of all the different types of accounts, who are they best suited for and what the tax implications are of those accounts.

This NRI bank account FAQs will help you choose an account type that is right for you.

Account Type

NRO

 NRE

FCNR Deposit

 RFC

What are the accounts called  Non Resident Ordinary (NRO)Account Non Resident External  (NRE) Account Foreign Currency Non Resident Deposit (FCNR) Account  Resident Foreign  Currency  (RFC)Account
What are the different account types available Savings (easy access) and Fixed Deposit (for fixed term) Savings (easy access) and Fixed Deposit (for fixed term) Fixed Deposit (for fixed term) Savings (easy access) and Fixed Deposit (for fixed term)
Who should use this account type If you are an NRI but still have some kind of income back in India (such as from rent, dividend, Indian salary etc.), you can use an NRO account. This account can also be used to manage  the money you earned in India before you became an NRI This account is useful to save and manage money earned outside India, but transferred to India An FCNR account is for those who want to save money in India but want to hold it in a foreign currency for convenience or to avoid currency fluctuation.  A selection of six foreign currencies are available.  As savings are held in a foreign currency, FX conversion risk is eliminated while transferring and repatriating. If you are an NRI looking to migrate back to India but want to hold savings earned aboard, in a foreign currency, then an RFC account type will allow you to maintain savings in a foreign currency  while you are a resident Indian
What currency the account can be held in INR INR In six foreign currencies(US Dollars, Pound Sterling, Euro, Japanese Yen, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars)  Four currencies such as USD, GBP, JPY, EURO
What are the tax implications of this account type In an NRO account, interest earned is taxed in India In an NRE account, both the principal amount and the interest are tax-free in India In this account type, both principal and interest are tax free in India This account does not attract any tax on interest earned only if the person declares that they are "Resident But Not Ordinarily Resident" in India
Can the money in this account type be repatriated Only interest earned can be repatriated  It is possible to repatriate the entire savings (principal and interest) held in this account Full savings (principal and interest) can be repatriated at any time Savings can be repatriated only for bonafide purposes (e.g.: education, medical reasons etc.)

 For more information see here [RBI website section, opens in a new window]