Australia has the second-highest share of international students globally1. In 2024, there were over a million international student enrolments, a 15% increase year on year2.
While studying overseas can be an exciting prospect for students, navigating tuition and living expenses across borders can be challenging and stressful due to currency fluctuations, transaction fees, security concerns and more.
This whitepaper explores the key challenges of cross-border payments for international students and examines how innovative payment solutions can help alleviate many of these challenges, while also helping to improve the overall payment experience.
Key Payment Challenges for International Students and their Agencies
Navigating the complexities of international payments can be a daunting task for students studying abroad, from making payments for tuition and rent to managing daily expenses. For businesses such as education agencies, cross-border transactions often come with administrative burdens, whether it’s managing and processing multiple student payments or handling global payroll.
Founded in 2021, Edupayments is an Australia-based, global payments solutions provider for the education sector. Edupayments simplifies the foreign exchange process and facilitates cost effective and seamless transactions for educational agencies and their students.
Edupayments leverages Australia’s payments infrastructure to enable students to transfer funds between Colombia to popular study destinations, including Australia, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, France, Malta, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. The Edupayments platform provides a streamlined payment experience for education agencies to easily and securely manage student payments, facilitating 24/7 global funds transfer and competitive exchange rates for students.
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How Edupayments tackles the top 6 challenges faced by international students
1. High Fees & Exchange Rate Markups
Traditional banks can charge multiple fees (sometimes hidden!) when processing cross-border payments. The currency conversion fee which is typically calculated as fixed percentage of the total transfer amount can be a significant cost when transferring large amounts of money.
✅Solution:
Edupayments enables students and agencies to save money on international payments by eliminating transaction fees and offering competitive exchange rates. Through strategic investment in technology, Edupayments streamlines processes and reduces operational costs, passing these savings directly to its customers. This approach ensures a more affordable and transparent payment experience, helping students focus on their education while simplifying financial transactions for agencies.
2. Slow Processing Times
Bank transfers, particularly SWIFT payments, can take several days to process, causing delays in tuition payments, rent, or other essential transactions.
✅Solution:
Edupayments provides a smoother, quicker, and more secure payment experience as opposed to sending funds directly from Colombia. By leveraging Australia’s advanced infrastructure for global payments, funds are collected locally in Colombia using PSE, their most popular payment gateway, and the payments are processed from Australia through Monoova APIs. This ensures faster transactions, building a bridge between LATAM and Australia’s payment system.
3. Limited Payment Options
Some universities and landlords may only accept certain payment methods (e.g., bank transfers rather than digital wallet) making it difficult for students to use cost-effective alternatives.
✅Solution:
Edupayments offers multiple payment options including credit cards, debit cards and bank transfers. Through its integration with Monoova’s API, payments can be seamlessly transferred to universities, landlords, or individuals via BSB and account numbers within Australia.
4. Unclear Tracking & Transparency
International transactions often lack real-time tracking, leaving students unsure about when their payment will be received and if any fees will apply. Banks may also block international transactions due to fraud prevention measures, requiring additional verification and causing delays.
✅Solution:
Edupayments enables education agencies to view their payment status and manage funds within their platform.
5. Currency Fluctuations
Exchange rates can change quickly, sometimes resulting in students paying more than expected if rates shift between the time of initiating and processing a payment.
✅Solution:
Edupayments locks the exchange rate for 48hrs at the time of payment link creation, ensuring that students know exactly how much they will pay, avoiding any surprises
6. Fraud & Security Risks
Sending large sums of money internationally increases the risk of scams or unauthorised transactions, especially if students use unfamiliar payment providers.
✅Solution:
Edupayments offers a secure platform with transaction monitoring and AML controls that comply with Australian regulation, helping customers make payments in a safe and secure environment.
How does it work?
The payment journey with Edupayments
1. Create a payment
Edupayments simplifies payment management via customised payment links for agencies to collect student payments. Payment instructions are sent along with the links to students which are valid for up to 48 hours, effectively locking the exchange rate at the time of link creation. If the link expires, the student can request a new one from the agency with an updated exchange rate.
Edupayments also provides students with unique BSB and account numbers, allowing them to easily top up their accounts and transfer funds to Colombia.
2. Make and track a payment
Students can choose from multiple payment options, and once a payment is made, the system automatically processes the transaction, eliminating unnecessary delays or waiting periods. This is especially beneficial for both educational agencies and students, as it allows them both to have immediate visibility on the status of payments from either end of the transaction process.
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How does Edupayments simplify cross-border payments for businesses?
For businesses operating in the education sector, managing international payments can be costly and time consuming. Key challenges include managing multiple payments to students and employees across the globe, dealing with transaction fees, unpredictable exchange rates, tracking and reconciling payments, slow processing times, payment delays and navigating regulatory compliance and security risks. With so many moving parts, businesses need a smarter and more efficient way to manage these transactions.
Edupayments provides educational agencies with a platform where they can easily manage and monitor student payments efficiently all in one place. The platform features a real-time dashboard, ability to generate payment links and distribute funds to educational institutions in 10 countries in a timely manner, track transactions, and receive financial reports for full transparency and control over payments.
Edupayments also streamlines health insurance payments for students in the same manner, and enables agencies to earn commissions on each payment and insurance purchase made through the platform. Edupayments offers exceptional personalised customer support for businesses, by emailing support@edupayments.net
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Partnering for Success with Monoova: From Implementation to Growth
When Edupayments was looking for an Australian payments partner for their business model, they needed a partner who not only aligned with their values but also prioritised risk management and had deep expertise in navigating the complex regulatory landscape.
Ultimately, they chose Monoova leveraging the API integration as a scalable solution to offer multiple payment options to their customers. Edupayments were particularly impressed by Monoova’s robust security, deep industry expertise, and dedicated client support – key factors in ensuring a successful partnership.
"I was looking for a reliable and reputable partner in Australia that we could truly trust to help grow our business. We were seeking expertise, cutting-edge technology, and a team of professionals who share the same passion for delivering efficient and secure payments. We chose Monoova because they embody all of that. Now, we feel confident and ready to scale — Monoova is our best choice." – Rudbel Cano, Founder, Edupayments
Looking ahead, Edupayments is set to expand its proven business model across multiple LATAM countries over the next 3 years. By expanding its reach, Edupayments aims to enhance the international payment experience, providing students and agencies with a seamless, secure, and efficient platform for educational expenses. If you’re interested in knowing more about Edupayments, visit their website.
About Monoova
Monoova is a leading provider of intelligent payment solutions, helping businesses optimise their payment processes, enhance customer experiences, and scale efficiently. Visit www.monoova.com or read Monoova’s PDS/FSG to find out more about our payment solutions and services.
For media enquiries, please contact: PressEnquiries@Monoova.com
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