4 ways to improve the international student payment experience

For international students and their benefactors, sending money across the world can be particularly fraught, with both real and perceived complications. It requires a lot of trust, and the nerves won’t fully subside until the student is sitting in the lecture hall on the first day of term.

To look after students and the people who support them during this process, there are several pillars educational institutes can follow to remove payment friction and improve the overall experience.

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1. Create a single sign-on and integrated portal for all student payment requirements

We’ve all had that feeling of purchasing something online, and when we go to pay, we are suddenly brought to a new page with branding we haven’t seen up to that point. It immediately raises our suspicions that something untoward is happening, and the word ‘scam’ starts bleeping on our radar.

This is the same for students who pay their tuition or accommodation fees and are bounced around different websites to complete the payment.

Educational institutions should ideally have a single portal for students to complete every part of the payment process. By centralizing how you handle international payments in a way that integrates with your Student Information System (SIS), you’ll foster much greater trust with students and their families. All data will be in a single source, resulting in clearer confirmation to the payers and fewer queries to your team.

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2. Provide multiple payment options

Everyone has their preferred method of payment. People often get locked in fairly early on how they spend their money, and it’s important to have that wide variety of options for people so they can pick the way they know and trust.

Again, it’s important here to integrate these payment methods within your payment portal. Fortunately, this solution is achievable through modern APIs and integration tools. It helps keep all the data streamlined for a smooth payment process for both the student and the educational institute.

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3. Ensure payments are secure and compliant

Providing multiple payment options goes hand in hand with making sure payments are compliant and regulated. Global financial crime and international student mobility are becoming more intertwined as criminals become savvier, and the education industry is open to money laundering risks, particularly through cash payments, refunds, and 3^rd party payments.

Modern payment systems use the latest technologies to detect and prevent fraud before they pass through the system. They also have the advantage of having a larger global footprint than many of the largest banks, meaning they have embedded local rules in their systems when payments pass through certain countries.

This technology can be integrated directly into your institution's payment portal, protecting you and providing your students with secure and regulated payments, building trust before they’ve ever set foot on campus.

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4. Provide live, multi-lingual support

People like to talk to people when making big decisions. Even with the digital nature of our lives and the increasing sophistication of chatbots, still, our first instinct when we reach an obstacle is to pick up the phone and talk to a human being.

Providing live, around-the-clock, multi-lingual support will cut off many problems early. It will ultimately reduce queries to your team, reduce the possibility of payments going wrong, and give that trust factor to the payer that there are real people looking after them.

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Removing friction from international student payments is a collaborative effort

There are many elements that go into crafting a smooth payment experience for an international student and their family. From the finance team, the marketing team, and the technology providers you work with to all of the other elements involved.

It can feel like a lot of heavy lifting, but finding the right partners, like Transact Campus, to lift some of the load will be invaluable for you and your teams. The end result is a better experience for the student, an easier workload for the administration team, and a better financial result for the institute.

Discover how Transact International Payments can improve your institution's student payment experience today: Discover More