Global Trust Networks (GTN) a comprehensive support company for foreign residents in Japan, is now collaborating with Convera to deliver GlobalPay for Students to educational institutions in the region. Together, GTN and Convera will help simplify the collection of tuition for universities and Japanese language schools and expand education options for foreign students.
The collaboration is part of GTN’s contribution to furthering internationalization in Japan. According to the Immigration Services Agency, there were 305,916 foreign students in the country at the end of June 2023. While these figures may be smaller than those recorded prior to the pandemic, they also show an increase of 17% compared to the same month the previous year, suggesting that the number of foreign students choosing to study in Japan is in recovery.[1]
The Japanese government has also set a goal of accepting 400,000 international students annually by 2033, with this number expected to increase in the future. This means educational institutions such as universities and Japanese language schools will be required to improve their methods for managing international students, specifically operations related to overseas tuition remittance.
According to Andrew Hannan, Head of Education – APAC, Convera, international students bring a wealth of diverse perspectives that benefit both education institutions and local student populations, however managing the associated cross-border remittances can be a significant challenge for finance departments.
“Exchange rates and surprise fees from intermediary banks can cause deficiencies in the amounts received by institutions. Managing enquiries about remittance methods and confirmation of payment can be a drain on resources, as can the administration of multiple payment methods such as credit cards EFTs, ChinaPay, and UnionPay. We are excited about working with GTN to help alleviate these pressures by streamlining the payments for students and the reconciliation process for institutions in Japan,” Hannan said.
Simplifying student payments
Since its foundation in 2006 GTN has provided comprehensive support for the daily lives of foreign residents in Japan. The organization offers a wide variety of unique services, including rental debt guarantees, real estate brokerage, employment support, mobile phone support, and credit card assistance. By collaborating with Convera, GTN can now expand this support to include helping educational institutions manage cross-border payment processes more efficiently.
Convera’s international tuition payment solution, GlobalPay for Students, is an online platform that enables institutions to provide students with a flexible range of payment methods and a state-of-the-art experience co-branded with the institution’s logo and imagery. Students can see exchange rates in advance, which provides increased transparency over payment costs in their local currency. Meanwhile, education institutions can integrate the platform directly into their ERP, which helps simplify reconciliation and refunds processes. More than 800 educational institutions, including eight of the top 10 universities in the world use GlobalPay for Students to manage international payments more efficiently.
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[1] Immigration Services Agency Statistics on Foreign Residents (formerly Registered Foreign residents Statistics) statistical table https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/statistics/toukei_ichiran_touroku.html
