The largest private lender in India, HDFC Credila, funds and manages Education loans that Flywire digitizes for cross-border payments.
In order to take advantage of the billions of dollars in school loan payment volume, Flywire is growing its presence in India.
The global payments enablement and software business Flywire Corporation (Nasdaq: FLYW) (Flywire) announced today that it has increased its capacity in India to expedite and automate student loan payments for Indian students studying overseas. Flywire and HDFC Credila, the biggest independent student loan provider in India, are collaborating on this larger project to allow Indian borrowers to conveniently and digitally send their loan payments in their native currency—Indian Rupees—to universities across the globe.
The collaboration expands on Flywire’s current achievements in India and assists the business in taking advantage of the substantial market opportunity surrounding student loans in that country, which Flywire projects will generate more than $3 billion in payments annually.
Addressing a vital issue for Indian students leaving as their mobility peaks.
The collaboration between Flywire and HDFC Credila, a prominent Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC) in India, streamlines the customarily intricate and expensive procedure of facilitating cross-border educational payments in cases when the funding source is education loans. It is frequently complicated because lenders frequently lose track of the money flow, and students must figure out how to pay Tax Collected at Source (TCS) payments—which are governed by Indian government regulations and can vary depending on the loan amount and the organization making the loan—and take many steps.
These difficulties are resolved for both students and lending companies like Credila thanks to Flywire and Credila’s collaboration. By utilizing Flywire’s software and payments technology, Credila ensures compliance with relevant tax regulations while saving providers and students time and money by streamlining refunds, maintaining complete visibility into each loan payment, and simplifying the complex Tax Collected at Source (TCS) computations.
Additionally, by streamlining the entire payment process for students who use Credila as their primary loan provider, the alliance puts Flywire as their preferred form of payment. Students only need to use Flywire to make the loan payment in Indian rupees when their loan application has been approved. After that, they can follow the payment until the money is sent to their university. At a time when student loans are in high demand, this alternative is offered. The demand for foreign education loans propelled NBFCs in India to record growth in their education loan book of over 43 percent in the first half of 2023, according to the most recent Statista data.
“We are thrilled to partner with Credila to vastly improve the way student loans are disbursed from India,” said Mina Fakhouri, VP of Sales for APAC & Global Agents at Flywire. “We believe Credila’s substantial footprint throughout India combined with Flywire’s powerful payments technology is solving a critical market need now for both students and lenders, and we look forward to ongoing innovation to drive even more value to our loan partners, payers, institutions and more.”
“Through our partnership with Flywire, our borrowers now have an easier way to pay their educational institutions with borrowed funds in Indian rupees, and HDFC Credila benefits from full transparency and trackability of overseas payments. We are delighted to partner with Flywire and thereby offer our borrowers an upgraded payment experience,” said Arijit Sanyal, Managing Director and CEO, HDFC Credila.
By solving for student loan payments, Flywire builds on existing momentum in India
Resolving student loan disbursements contributes to Flywire’s recent success in India, which is significant for outbound student marketing. Flywire has accelerated its presence in the region and given Indian students seamless digital payment experiences from within their banking portals by establishing direct integrations with the three biggest banks in the country, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank. Flywire has made significant investments in local payer assistance in order to deliver better payer experiences. As a result, the company now provides round-the-clock support in eight Indian languages via a variety of well-known channels. Flywire has also broadened its network of education advisors and brokers, who are becoming more crucial in helping Indian students get into foreign colleges and universities.