Wise launches remittance service in India

UK-based FinTech Wise (formerly TransferWise) launched its services in India as a next step to achieve the goal of becoming a global remittance service.

The company’s Indian customers are enabled to send money to 44 countries, including the UK, US, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and countries in the Eurozone.

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India is a very important market for every company that is in the remittance business.

Outward remittances in the fiscal year 2019-2020 were around $18.75 billion, with more than 60% of it categorized under travel and paying for studying abroad, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.

“Bringing Wise to India is a big step forward in our mission to build money without borders 一 instant, convenient, transparent and, eventually free,” Kristo Käärmann, CEO and co-founder of Wise said.

“The data shows that Indians are more international than ever, with an increasing need to send money abroad as quickly, easily and cost-effectively as possible. With this launch, we hope to make these transactions simpler and more pleasant for all Indians.”

Wise’s biggest UVP are their prices. International money transfers are on average 2x cheaper than banks and other providers like PayPal. For example, sending INR 50,000 to the US costs just ₹1,038.08 with Wise, but costs ₹1,909 on average with banks.

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Wise has also introduced that the company will open a local office in Mumbai. However, Kaarmann declined to provide any more information about potential partnerships in the works in India.

Just recently, Silicon Valley Bank UK Branch (SVB), announced it decided to provide Wise a new £160m capital facility so the company is able to refinance its existing debt.