Englishour

Englishour required a payment solution that could accept student payments internationally, facilitate payments outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), and also accept pre-cleared student visa payments in escrow accounts.  

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About

Englishour is a language school nestled in the heart of Dublin City. With three locations in the Irish capital, it has taught the English language to international students from over 80 nations since being established in 2010. 

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The Challenge

Sending money internationally via traditional methods is expensive. And when an institution makes an exit from the market, businesses are left with the burden of finding a new provider. Unfortunately, this more than often means that costs will rise.    

“We've been using TransferMate for years as far as the payments in are concerned. And it's only recently we started using TransferMate for payments out because our old bank closed.” says Darren Orr, Director of Englishour, “Our previous banking provider was quite cheap for outward payments, but when they left the Irish market, we had to find another provider. The bank we chose are more expensive, and that's when we started to look for another solution.”

When a company is known for doing one thing very well, it’s not always immediately obvious that they are just as effective in other areas. But in the world of business, a payment is a payment.

Although to the education sector TransferMate is known as a smarter way to collect international student payments, our solutions empower institutions to make payments too.  

“I didn't even know you could make payments on the outward side until I started talking to our account manager. Jefferson got in touch with me over it, and it’s been quite smooth working with you.”

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The Solution

Englishour uses TransferMate to collect international student payments. Their students pay in their local currency with preferential foreign exchange (FX) rates, and Englishour receives the full payment in euro.

“Collections are fairly seamless. We get the confirmation of student payment. It comes into the bank account. It's much the same as somebody doing a direct debit.”

On the other hand, Englishour pays agents' fees and student refunds in euro with transparent fees and preferential FX rates. Their beneficiaries receive the full amount in their local currency.    

“It's quite easy to make a payment. We only have one bank account, so I click on that, register the details of whomever we're paying. Any repeat payees are then saved on the system, so I can save and reuse their details. Other than that, I just send off the payments. It's become natural for us. If it's an EEA outside payment, I go to TransferMate.”

The language school also benefits from TransferMate’s visa pre-clearance facility. When students are waiting for their travel visa to be awarded, paid funds are held in escrow. It means that, in the rare occasion of a visa application being denied, TransferMate can easily refund the originating account.

“We've put your escrow account out to all of our agents from outside the EU that need pre-cleared visas. Not all of the agencies use them. But for those that do, it makes the process much smoother, in the case where visas aren’t cleared. We're not sending thousands back. We just get paid the cancellation fee, and it's clean.”

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The Results

For Englishour, the results have been measured in euros saved. By using TransferMate to process larger value payments out, they’ve seen a reduction in costs.  

“Do we see cost savings? For larger value payments, yes - definitely. We're saving money on it by using TransferMate. Our bank were charging us around €30 per payment, and TransferMate is closer to €10.”

Moreover, Englishour has been able to gain more transparency over costs and the completion of payments.

“You can see what's going to be charged, processing is quick; and we get a confirmation email to tell us that it's reached its destination. And the received amount is always bang on.”

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The Final Word

“For non-EEA payments, TransferMate has reduced the cost of payment. It is quick and easy to use, I have recommended it to others, and It's a payment option we give to all our students.” – Darren Orr, Director, Englishour

Contact the team today and increase your institution's revenues by using TransferMate to process both your inbound and outbound payments.