Case Study: EasyTransfer at The University of Manchester

Testimonial from the University

"Working with EasyTransfer has significantly improved how we manage international tuition payments. Our finance team now spends less time on reconciliation, receives a lot less inquiries from the students that pay with EasyTransfer, and the payers benefit from an easier and well-supported payment experience.”

Kris McDermott
Income Manager
The University of Manchester

The Challenge of Cross-Border Tuition Payments

International tuition payments are often a point of stress and inefficiency for students and university staff. The University of Manchester faced:

●A variety of existing international providers to offer student choice, but unsatisfactory student adoption.

●A significant number of incoming inquiries and requests for student support which created a heavy burden on finance and international teams.

●A portion of international students that continued to try and make direct bank wire transfers every year which came with short payments, incomplete remittance information, and delayed or lost payments.

●High FX and wire transfer fees impacting families, as well as card fee costs impacting the university.

●Long processing times for refunds with additional compliance requirements that required communications with students, as well as limited visibility on transaction status.

Implementation and Integration

The EasyTransfer platform was integrated into the university’s existing finance and student communications workflows with minimal disruption through a phased integration approach.

A customised link including the university’s preferred branding customization and data collection requirements was quickly set up. Once University tech resources became available, the net time taken for API integration into the University’s ERP systems was approximately 4 weeks from start to finish.

Payment tracking was embedded into university dashboards, and communication materials were updated to reflect the extra choice available to students.

Outcomes and Impact

Since the initial rollout in January 2024, within the year of 2024 alone, The University of Manchester has observed strong quantitative and qualitative results:

•

Adoption：2.6X

increase in the number of EasyTransfer users at The University of Manchester

•

Popularity：75%+

of Chinese students made a payment using EasyTransfer within the first payment cycle

•

Volume：£100M+

in transactions processed to The University of Manchester in the first year

•

Operational Efficiency：98%

of students pay to the university without any payment-related inquiries reaching the finance team (EasyTransfer support team takes care of these inquiries)

•

Cash Flow：T+0

International payments settled to The University as fast as same-day

•

Data Insights

The University gains valuable information for projecting future income

•

Student Satisfaction

Within one year of implementation, EasyTransfer has become one of the largest processors for international payments at The University of Manchester

•

Retention：87%+

of users at The University of Manchester used EasyTransfer again for future payments

•

Conversion Impact

Improved ease of deposit payment and student experience contributed to higher offer-to-enrolment rates

Future Plans

Based on the success of the initial implementation and roll out, the university is expanding EasyTransfer services by:

●MyManchester student portal embedding and API integrations for secure and seamless access, and full payment status update automation across all university platforms

●Joint webinars and pre-departure support programmes for incoming students with for example the Chinese Students and Scholars Association

●Continuously refining the university finance and systems experience by leveraging EasyTransfer’s student-end user feedback

About EasyTransfer

Founded by international students for international students, EasyTransfer is a leading global education payments platform focused on quality service, innovation and student choice.

The company processes over £3.5 billion in payments annually to thousands of universities and education institutions worldwide and is trusted by more than 800,000 students and families across 170+ countries and regions.

With investment backing from and strategic partnerships with major banks and global financial leaders such as Mastercard, Tencent, EbixCash, and ICBC, and a relentless focus on student experience, EasyTransfer is redefining what it means to move money for education.

£3.5B+

Annual payments processed

800,000+

Students and families served

170+

Countries and regions covered