“My tuition fees… Can I pay them in Rupees?”
The study combined responses from over 900 international student and universities from 71 countries. On the question “what do you want in your payment process”, paying in their national currency outranked answers like: payment to arrive on time (79%), for no transaction charges (78%) and for dedicated student support (72%).
Financial aspects very important to students
The study by Western Union shows that next to the courses that are being offered at a university, the financial aspects are most important to international students. The reason that so many students want to pay in their own currency is explained by an Indian student: “I don’t want to be unsure of exchange rate charged”. A Chinese student adds that he would prefer a system of a better quality “to avoid the loss of money during the currency exchange”.
Results also show that frustrations arise on both sides of the payment process, with university international office staff identifying specific pain points including time spent investigating payments; payments received but incorrectly referenced; and delayed payments. Recently, a service was launched that allows universities and higher education institutions to accept payments in Rupees and last year it was expanded to enable participating institutions to accept fees in the Chinese Renminbi.
