India-based HDFC Bank has partnered global payments-enablement and software company Flywire to improve cross-border education payments. The partnership will enable Indian payers to seamlessly and digitally pay international education fees to higher education institutions all over the world.

In essence, when making high-value education payments, students and their families will benefit from a streamlined experience and will be able to comply with LRS requirements. The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), consists of a series of guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India that enable Indian residents to remit up to USD 250,000 overseas per financial year. The fully digital checkout experience for transactions supports both application fees and tuition payments, and students can make the payments in Indian rupees.

On the other end of the transaction, institutions that accept payments through Flywire receive their payments on time and in the local currency. Institutions also have full access to the transaction history, which helps them with their reconciliation process while streamlining their operational efficiency. The system allows institutions to capture all relevant student information, ensuring payments are accurate and identifiable.

Indian students want to study abroad According to a  report by ICEF, 1. 8 million Indian students will study abroad by 2024, and student spending is expected to exceed USD 75 billion by that year. There are a number of factors that will continue to support this growth in Indian outbound students.

One such factor is the increasing demand in India for quality higher education programmes. Moreover, students associate higher education institutions in other countries with better educational quality and outcomes. According to the 2022 Open Doors Report, almost 200,000 Indian students received an education in the United States during the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

This represents a 19% increase over the prior year. When it comes to making tuition payments, however, Indian students have traditionally been faced with a dependence on paper-based forms and a lengthy payment experience. In this context, a Flywire report has revealed that 82% of Indian students surveyed believe that a simplified payment process would improve their overall education experience.

Furthermore, 80% indicated that they would be able to afford these expenses if they had the option to pay them in instalments. Making tuition payments in the first place can be difficult for some of these students due to financial difficulties. 85% of surveyed students mentioned that they struggle with their tuition payments due to the financial impact of COVID-19.

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