Streamline Student Tuition Payments with Verto's API and Global Account
Educational institutions have been immensely impacted by COVID-19 with years of disruptions to both learning and teaching. It has spurred the improvements in online teaching, from Zoom classes for those in school, to the rise in the edtech to support adult online classes. According to McKinsey, venture capitalists invested a staggering $20.8 billion in the edtech sector globally in 2021, 40 times more than just 11 years prior. But educational institutions are facing recurring challenges, regardless of the technological developments in the way they teach, and that’s collecting the tuition fees from students. The benefits of online mean students can join courses from anywhere in the world, but this means processing payments from other destinations can be delayed and there are inefficient currency conversions. This results in high costs, a lack of transparency, and no real-time visibility means both the student and the educators are unclear as to when funds will land.
Streamlining the global payments process is imperative for educators to continue their teaching and keep teachers in work, and for the students to further their education and have peace of mind their tuition fees will arrive safely. Verto seeks to address these issues and provide intelligent solutions that will help educational institutions collect payments, regardless of where they are in the world, and ensure no high exchange rates so funds aren’t lost along the way. Amid budget cuts for schools and the rise in cost of living, this furthers the importance for better payment processes.
The Currency Conundrum: How Cross-Border Payments are Complicating Tuition Collection
Taking a closer look at the challenges that surround collection of student tuition payments, one of the biggest challenges is relying on manual payment processes where each payment must be processed individually, each taking several days to complete. This can put a strain on the institution’s finance team if a backlog of payments build up, or there are complexities with dealing with multiple currencies.
One of the most time-consuming elements of this process is the currency conversion, a complex and intricate process if the school or university hosts a large number of international students. Traditional bank transfers can come with additional charges and high exchange rates that already pile on top of a high annual tuition fee.
In addition, there is often a lack of transparency and visibility using traditional payment methods, such as wire transfers. Students are unable to communicate with educational institutions when their fees will arrive into their account. This can also raise concerns of fraud as funds go through multiple touchpoints. Educators can protect their cash flow by using a payments platform that allows for real-time tracking and easy collection of a range of currencies.
The Top 10 Barriers Slowing Your FinTech Business Growth.
Get startedThe Future of Financial Operations: How Verto's API is Transforming Tuition Payment
One solution to help deal with the hurdles of cross-border payments for educators is to introduce an API that helps streamline the process through automation. By integrating a payments platform with an API, financial operations can be made more efficient and real-time tracking, instant notifications to keep educators informed of any changes to payment status, as well as bulk payouts. With real-time tracking and improved visibility, it frees up time usually spent by finance teams trying to track down payments or responding to student concerns, giving peace of mind to students, and improved cash flow to educators. Not only that, but it can improve accuracy as manual heavy lifting is reduced and time can be spent more efficiently.
One Account, Many Currencies: The Benefits of Verto's Global Account for Educational Institutions
A further intelligent solution to support educators is using a global account that supports collection of a vast number of currencies, offering improved money management and improved visibility. Educators can save time and money with a simplified way to collect funds from international students as though they were local payments. This helps to build the reputation of the institution as well as student satisfaction that they know that their fees have arrived safely into the relevant account and their enrolment process can be completed.
Alternatively, digital wallets can be an attractive solution for students to send money through instant wallet-to-wallet transfers in their local currency. This can be useful for unbanked students who seek online education but don’t have access to a traditional bank. Gone are the days of posting a paper cheque, and instead utilising intelligent financial technology that facilitates faster and safer transactions. In a sector like education, it can help broaden the scope of who can access online courses and provide a solution where once this was not possible.
Discover the Power of Verto's Solutions for Your Educational Institution.
By introducing an improved payments platform that has automation capabilities and collection in multiple currencies, both students and educators can unlock a simplified payments process and improved user experience. This can lead to a greater number of students feeling comfortable to further their education or enrol in online courses, regardless of their location, and for educators to have greater confidence in their cash flow and seamless tuition fee collection.
Educational institutions should explore Verto’s Global Account and API to discover the plethora of benefits it can bring to a traditionally manually demanding and clunky process. By streamlining collection of student tuition fees, it can bring greater peace of mind to students and their families, as well as improved cash flow and smoother enrolment of students. Overall, delivering a better experience and greater number of students furthering their education.
Ready to streamline student tuition payments and improve the education enrolment experience? Get started with Verto today!
