The partnership, announced on November 14, allows students to complete transactions to institutions around the world in a single online session without visiting a bank or incurring additional fees.  

“We are thrilled to partner with VIB to combine their comprehensive banking network and Flywire’s payment technology with the goal of transforming how international payments are made for students”, said Mohit Kansal, SVP of global payments & payer services, Flywire. 

“Vietnam is an important outbound market for Flywire and we are committed to enhancing our offerings for payers while strengthening our presence in the region.” 

Through the collaboration with Flywire, VIB has digitised 100% of its international payment services, which can be tracked on the Flywire platform, enabling complete transparency for users.  

The inability to track international payments has frequently been cited as a problem by students who said that payment issues influenced their view of the university they are applying for.  

Prior to the partnership, Vietnamese customers would typically pay a minimum of $10 USD in transfer fees and $25 USD in out-of-country fees per international transaction. Now, there are no additional fees.  

Customers can also pay directly in Vietnamese đồng (VND) rather than purchasing foreign currency in the traditional way.  

The latest UNESCO data for 2022 reported that nearly 135,000 Vietnamese students were studying abroad, making it by far the largest source country in Southeast Asia, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia which sent 63,000 and 48,000 students respectively.  

Japan and South Korea are among the most popular destinations for Vietnamese students, followed by the US, Australia and Canada.  

Considered “one of the most dynamic emerging countries in the East Asia region” by the World Bank, the number of Vietnamese students studying abroad is expected to grow in the coming years.  

Easing the payment process for Vietnamese students will support the continued growth of the country’s internationally mobile student population as the affordability of higher education becomes an increasing concern for students globally. 

Vietnam is an important outbound market for Flywire and we are committed to enhancing our offerings for payers while strengthening our presence in the region

Mohit Kansal, Flywire

Last year, Flywire partnered with Tencent’s fintech arm in a bid to allow Chinese students and families to make education payments abroad via WeChat Pay. 

Mr. Hồ Vân Long, deputy CEO of VIB, said that the collaboration with Flywire was helping it to become the most “innovative and customer-centric” bank in Vietnam, delivering personalised solutions to customers.