HDFC Bank Launches Payment Gateway To Digitise Overseas Education Remittances Flow

HDFC Bank has launched an “edtech” platform for students studying abroad. The new platform will serve as a payment gateway for students pursuing education overseas. 

In a statement, the bank said that the platform will assist in digitising overseas education remittance payments flow from existing offline modes.

Under this, HDFC Bank will partner with educational consultants and aggregators to enable students to send money to universities overseas. Additionally, the bank will also enable these consultants listed on the “edtech” platform to facilitate digital payments in compliance with existing RBI.

“We are excited to launch our new Edtech platform – a payments solution for students aspiring to pursue their education dreams abroad. This will help make the journey quicker and smoother. The offering from HDFC Bank is a part of our focus on customer centricity and our commitment to evolve alongside changing customer expectations,” said HDFC Bank’s business head and executive vice-president for retail trade and forex Jatinder Gupta.

With this, HDFC Bank is looking to cash-in on the growing number of Indian students going overseas for education. Additionally, the platform will look to bring unorganised players under its umbrella and monetise its complete suite of services. 

As per Ministry of External Affairs’ data, over 13 Lakh Indian students were pursuing courses abroad as of July 2024. In 2023, India spent $60 Bn on overseas higher education, the highest for any country, followed by China at $40 Bn. 

This presents a vast opportunity for the bank to tap into and create newer avenues of revenue. Additionally, the move will also help HDFC Bank expand its presence in the liberalised remittance services segment. 

The bank has forayed into the overseas education segment, which is currently peppered with new-age tech companies. The rise of tech-based solutions to streamline overseas education processes has spawned startups such as Athena Education, ASL, AdmitKard, among others. 

In February this year, Adventum Student Living secured $3 Mn from the Times of India’s strategic investment arm Brand Capital. Additionally, Avanse, which also offers loans for overseas education, filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) earlier this year for INR 3,500 Cr initial public offering (IPO). 

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