Flywire expands services into Japan to encourage student enrolment

The move builds on Flywire’s recently launched operations in Shanghai, China and business expansion across the Asia-Pacific region including Australia and Singapore.

International student enrolment in Japan grew nearly 10% in 2014 when over 184,000 foreign students attended schools and universities in Japan. Government agencies such as Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) are working actively with the country`s education institutions to grow that number to 300,000 by 2020, according to ICEF Monitor.

The country is a source market for international students as well. After slow but steady declines in the number of Japanese studying abroad in recent years, Japan is seeing a renewed interest in international education among its students. The government is promoting study abroad via multiple programmes with a goal of 120,000 export students by 2020.

Flywire GK has signed on six schools to date. Among those, Kai and Le Cordon Bleu are already offering the payment service to students. Kudan Institute of Japanese Language & Culture and Yoshida Institute of Japanese Language Culture were recently signed and expect to be live on the platform in the coming weeks. For the schools` international students, Flywire offers currency conversion rates, 24/7 payment tracking, multilingual customer service, and the ability to pay in 70 different local currencies.