I've been studying Flywire as a potential investment and am trying to talk to customers like yourself. I want to learn about how you use Flywire, how you compare it to alternatives, and your thoughts on the service and pricing. I believe the UK is now Flywire's biggest market, even bigger than the US. I'm excited to hear about your experiences and what you might do in the future with Flywire. Could you start by discussing your university's history with Flywire? Specifically, why did you choose to partner with them and why are you using their services?

Flywire entered the marketplace and took over from Western Union, which sort of disappeared from the market. Flywire started by offering a better deal than Western Union. Like any new market entrant, they made it cheaper for us, so universities decided to come on board, as is common in any business sector. At the same time, Flywire acquired another company called WPM, which had a long-standing relationship with universities, helping them with online payments in the broadest sense, including electronic payment mechanisms for universities. This wasn't just for tuition fees but also for things like library payments, accommodation payments, and various other services. Flywire undercut Western Union on costs and acquired WPM, which had relationships with universities for 15 to 20 years or more. This acquisition gave them an entry into the sector.

So you're saying international payments are exclusive, and students must use the Flywire portal?

They don't have to, but they can if they wish. We do not encourage it. If they have trouble paying through Flywire, they can still arrange to make direct payments to the university. We are very reticent to do that because of payment fraud. We are cautious about giving out the university's bank details or the IBAN banking details to anyone outside. We strongly encourage students to pay through Flywire. If there are reasons why they can't, which is quite rare, we can provide them with the IBAN details so they can make a payment that way if they wish. However, we prefer them to use Flywire due to various fraud regulations and banking regulations we need to abide by.