Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia has recently expressed his frustration with the SWIFT money wiring system in India, alleging that his money from the US was not wired to India within 2 days.
“I sent an international wire to India on Monday. It’s Wednesday evening—the wire has still not been credited to the recipient’s account. It’s the same SWIFT system. In the US, it takes 10 minutes. What’s wrong with India?”
I sent an international wire to India on Monday. It’s Wednesday evening—the wire has still not been credited to the recipient’s account. It’s the same SWIFT system. In the US it takes 10 minutes. What’s wrong with India?
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) July 9, 2026
This is not the first time Bhatia has highlighted this problem. In one of the interviews, Bhatia stated that his money transfer to India, which is meant for the salaries of his Indian employees, often gets halted for no reason.
Netizens React
Many people resonated with Bhatia’s frustration. A user even joked that the money is held up to earn interest. Bhatia highlighted that this problem happens to him all the time.
They hold for 2-3 days. Earn interest on it. And try to get the best price for themselves before shortchanging you for a few paisas per dollar and eventually transferring it. God forbid if there are any errors the money is stuck for weeks
— Asif Ali (@asifalis) July 9, 2026
I think this is a one-off case.
— κα (@karthicashokan) July 9, 2026
I just wired money to myself from my US trading platform a few days ago, and it arrived within half a day.
Perhaps it was a wire to a new account, which could have triggered some kind of bank safeguards.
Multiple users recommended that Bhatia use the UPI system in India through WISE.
SWIFT is a global messaging network that Indian banks use to communicate securely with banks around the world. It provides a standardized and highly secure way for financial institutions to exchange payment instructions and other financial messages.
