Can I pay for visitors insurance with an Indian credit card?
We are an US company and all the companies we offer insurance from are based in the US as well. Therefore, the payment must be made in US dollars. Many Indian credit cards allow you to make charges in US dollars. When you get a statement from your credit card company, that charge would have been converted into Indian Rupees and you simply pay your bank in Indian rupees. e.g., if the charge is $100 and if the exchange rate is Rs. 63, you will get the charge in your credit card for Rs. 6,300. Please note that, depending upon your credit card issuing bank, you may be subject to different foreign currency exchange rates and possibly foreign transaction fee. We obviously have no control over it. As far as we are concerned, you will be charged the exact amount you see on our web site in terms of US dollars.
Which credit cards can I use?
Most plans allow all major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
Can I use debit card instead?
If your bank allows you to use the debit card for credit card transactions (without having to enter the PIN number), you can pay using debit card also.
When can I not use Indian credit card?
Some credit cards do not allow international (foreign currency) charges. Some may even have written "Valid only in India and Nepal" on it. However, such cards are rarely issued now a days.
I have a Rupay credit card. Can I use it?
Yes. Even though Rupay is indigenous credit card of India, for foreign transactions, they have partnered with Discover card. Therefore, while entering the details, please choose 'Discover' as your credit card type.
Why are you declining my credit card?
We have no reason to decline your valid credit card. Such rejection occurs by the bank that issued your credit card and that may happen for a variety of reasons such as not enough credit limit, foreign transaction, high amount of charge or just any reason, for example, a charge that appears to be fraudulent by your bank. In that case, please call your bank, tell them that you are attempting to make a purchase for a specific dollar amount and ask them to manually authorize the charge and then try again. If it still does not work, it is beyond our control. Please try using a different credit card.
The billing address for my Indian credit card is obviously in India and not in the US. Is that OK?
Yes. As long as your bank allows you to use the card, we have no problem.
I don't have a credit card. Can I pay cash at some location in India?
No. We have no locations in India. Even if we had, we can not accept cash in any currency, not even US dollars. You must pay through regular banking channels.
Can I pay using Indian check?
All the payments must be done in US dollars. Therefore, you can not write us a check in Indian Rupees.
Can I make a demand draft in US dollars and pay using that?
Yes, you certainly can do that. However, that method will take a long time and it is not reliable. It is best to pay instantly with the credit card. If you don't have a credit card, you can ask other relative or friend to use his/her card and you can reimburse him/her privately using any other method you choose such as check, cash etc.
Can I make the payment by bank transfer from an Indian bank?
We work with several different insurance companies and most companies don't have the option to make the payment by bank transfer. For even those that have a bank transfer facility, it is done through ACH system and that means that it is between two US bank accounts only. On the other hand, India uses other systems such as RTGS and NEFT and those are for payment transfer using Indian rupees, domestically within India. Therefore, you can't make a payment using bank transfer from an Indian bank.
Can I make a payment through an Indian credit card that requires One Time Password (OTP)?
With traditional credit cards, you simply enter the credit cards details into the merchant's web site that sends the information to the card holder's bank and the bank approves or rejects the transaction. Many Indian credit cards come with OTP (One Time Password) feature. When you visit the merchant's web site and enter the credit card details, they will forward you to the card issuing bank's web site which will generate OTP and send it to the registered mobile phone and you would have to enter that OTP back into the web site before the bank would approve the transaction. Such facility does not exist in the US eCommerce web sites, at least for travel medical insurance. Therefore, if you have such credit card, you can't use it to buy insurance from us.