Strategic partnership makes Flywire the preferred payment partner for Tribal Group, the leading Student Information System in EMEA and APAC

Flywire’s integrated offering with Tribal Group delivers a seamless payment experience for students and operational efficiencies for higher education institutions

Today, Flywire Corporation (Flywire) (Nasdaq: FLYW) a global payments enablement and software company, announced a strategic partnership with Tribal Group (LON: TRB), a leading provider of Education Technology SaaS solutions globally. Tribal Group will extend Flywire’s digital education payments platform into its student information system, enabling a seamless payment experience for students and administrators in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as well as in the Asia Pacific (APAC) markets.

The demand for global education remains strong. In a recent Flywire survey of more than 1,400 students in seven different countries, 68% were either studying abroad or planned to. Countries in EMEA and APAC are among the most popular destinations according to Project Atlas, a global research initiative that studies international student mobility. Countries in those regions account for seven of the top ten destination countries worldwide, and host over 2.3 million students each year. Europe in particular is also a favored destination for U.S. students according to the 2021 Open Doors Study Abroad Report, with 58% of all U.S. students studying abroad attending schools there.

International students add to the campus experience for many schools and represent an important revenue stream as well. But managing student payments originating from different countries and in different currencies can create difficult challenges for their finance teams. They have to manage domestic and international payments in different systems. Reconciling international payments typically requires a lot of manual effort for staff and can complicate student registration. This all creates complexity and friction for both students and university staff.

Likewise, students and families are seeking more simplified ways to pay their tuition and other expenses, especially as a means to ease their financial burdens. In the same report from Flywire, 83% of students in the U.K. said they needed help affording education expenses and 70% said the option to pay in installments makes education more affordable.

The partnership between Flywire and Tribal Group is designed to help solve both sides of the payment equation. For students and families, the solution provides a highly-tailored, convenient and secure digital payment experience, which can be customized by university, country, and currency. It also enables institutions to consolidate the multiple payment options they offer, which accelerates funds flow, eases reconciliation and streamlines operational efficiencies. Additionally, institutions can create custom payment plans to provide students and families with greater flexibility.

“The integrated solution between Flywire and Tribal has been fundamental to improving our payment operations, and within months it has already paid back the investment many times over, through reduced staff effort and real cash savings” said Peter Wreford, Head of Student Finance, University of Warwick. “We have consolidated our methods of payment with Flywire accepted as the exclusive online hub for our student payments for tuition and accommodation fees, resulting in significant reductions in manual and clerical effort.”

Additional benefits of the integrated solution between Flywire and Tribal Group for institutions include:

• Reduced inbound contact volume
• Increased payer satisfaction
• Automated payment process
• Faster electronic payment allocation
• Accelerated ancillary processing around student visas, enrolment and credit control
• Simplified refunds process coupled with fewer payment inquiries
• Significant reduction in merchant processing fees via more payment options

“We are thrilled to continue to build on our longstanding relationship with Tribal Global to become their preferred payment partner in EMEA and APAC,” said Sharon Butler, EVP and GM of Global Education, Flywire. Mark Wilson, Chief Operating Officer, Tribal Group added: “Tribal has such extensive knowledge of the higher education market, and their solutions continue to set the standard for how institutions should be engaging with students today. Together, we deliver exceptional payment experiences for students and institutions alike.”