Wise Is Building Transpare In Money Remittances

Money transfer from India has been one of the most requested currency routes among customers in the country. Wise caught onto this growing demand and launched their money transfer service in June 2021. Today, globally, 11 million people and businesses use Wise, which processes over £5.5 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers over £1 billion a year.

We spoke with Ms Rashmi Satpute, Country Manager, Wise India, below are the excerpts of the interview:

How has been Wise’s launch in India and how has the journey been since June 2021

Our USP is that we listen closely to our customers and work hard to give them the best experience possible. Since launch, the features we’ve rolled out are:
1. Made it cheaper for customers to send money: in September we dropped our prices by up to 50% for some currency routes, including India
2. Leveraged UPI to make it more convenient for customers sending money to India

Our journey in India is only just getting started and we look forward to growing and bringing more local product features. Today, Indian customers can send money overseas to over 40 countries globally that is almost 2x cheaper than banks and other providers.

Recently, we read about your hidden fees survey and how it is affecting customers, what steps are you taking to make the entire process transparent and simple for a customer

People are paying more than they have to anytime they want to send, spend, convert or manage money in a different currency. Our research found that Indians paid a whopping ₹26300 crores on foreign exchange fees in 2020, of which roughly ₹9700 crores was hidden as exchange rate markups on currency conversions, payments and card purchases.

There’s no reason why understanding the cost of international transactions should involve complicated math. At Wise, we’re not only building the best way to move money around the world; but also a global standard for the industry with transparency. When people use Wise, they get one upfront transparent fee with the mid-market exchange rate as seen on Google/Reuters — with no hidden charges.

What are some of the challenges/roadblocks you are facing in India and how does the remittance landscape look?

The digital payments and remittance landscape in India is fast and vibrant. There are several trends we’re seeing that stand out for us.

Firstly, India is fintech-forward and people here are comfortable accessing digital financial services through their phone. As a result, digital payments have really taken off, with digital payments recording 30% growth in FY2021, according to RBI data.

Secondly, we’re seeing innovation in domestic payments with United Payments Interface (UPI). UPI is one of the advanced payments infrastructure in the region, and it’s really exciting to see it becoming mainstream.

Finally, Indians lead international lives. Remittances from India have increased 31% year-on-year in July 2021, according to RBI data. So, when you combine these factors — comfort with digital services, government investment in digital payments, and a population with a distinct international outlook, it makes solving the cross-border payment issues even more critical.

In terms of challenges, the biggest ones we face as a business is people being unaware of the hidden charges associated with foreign currency transactions. Usually two costs are involved — the transaction fee and the exchange rate. Often, providers offer a relatively low or zero upfront transaction fee, but mark up the exchange rate instead, which means customers pay more than they should due to the unfriendly rate. Since the markup is rarely stated, we call this the hidden fees problem. Our teams work hard to create awareness on this so that people can make informed choices.

Would you like to share some trends in the sector you operate in with our readers?

Consumer expectations for international payments will continue to increase more than ever:
1.   Price and transparency: Indians are quite savvy and use comparison tools to shop around for providers that are transparent and give them the most value.
2.   Speed: Speed is key, and consumers expect international payments to be completed as quickly as domestic ones. Today, 40% of transfers with Wise are instant under 20 seconds
3.   Convenience: COVID has accelerated the shift to digital, and Indians want to transact money online and on the move. We’re also seeing the financial services sector, including incumbents, going digital and offering online solutions

Please tell us about any new offerings that you are planning to launch that may revolutionise space?

At Wise, we’re solving for international banking with our account and debit card proposition for consumers and businesses, to help them also spend, convert, hold and manage their money in multiple currencies. We've also got our Platform product where our rails are now powering payments for banks, enterprises and tech companies around the world.