Wise launches foreign exchange services from India

Wise has tied up with RBL Bank enabling Indians to send money abroad through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). With this launch, Indians will be able to send money from the country to 44 countries globally, including the UK, US, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and countries in the Eurozone, a press release issued by the firm said. The company serves over 10 million customers worldwide, processing GBP 5 billion in cross-border transactions per month, a spokesperson for Wise added.

“Transfers to Indian Rupees (INR) were first made available in 2013, and the company most recently enabled Google Pay users in the US to send INR to Google Pay users in India,” the release added. RBI data shows that remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) have been growing over the years 一 totalling USD 18.75 B in the financial year ending March 2020, with travel and paying for studies abroad accounting for over 60 percent of the transfers in that period.

“Bringing Wise to India is a big step forward in our mission to build money without borders 一 instant, convenient, transparent and, eventually free,” Kristo Käärmann, CEO and co-founder of Wise said. According to the company’s release, independent analysis conducted by research firm Alderson Consulting shows that Wise’s prices for international money transfers are on average 2x cheaper than banks and other providers like PayPal. For example, sending INR 50,000 to the US costs just ₹1,038.08 with Wise, but costs ₹1,909 on average with banks.