Aimed at offering a one-stop solution for overseas travellers, the Kochi based ExTravelMoney – a leading online forex marketplace – is set to launch visa and travel insurance as part of its 10th year of operations.
The company plans to on-board more banks and financial institutions onto its platform; expand into the B2B segment by collaborating with travel agents and education consultants to meet the customer needs. The rise in outward remittances from India has facilitated the fintech firm to capitalise on the emerging business opportunity, George Zachariah, founder and CEO, ExTravelMoney said.
The Indian outward remittance market under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), according to him, had reached $27.14 billion last year, witnessing 10.6 per cent growth. With travel expenses accounting for 60 per cent of these remittances, the market is brimming with untapped potential for an efficient, secure and cost-effective solution. States like Kerala will be benefitted by the rising remittances business considering the surge in international migration, Zachariah told businessline in an interaction.
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Quoting the Kerala Migration Survey 2023, he said 2.2 million people have emigrated from the State with international education increasingly becoming popular among the youth. For these global citizens and their families, managing foreign exchange and remittances is a critical part of staying connected across borders and to ensure a satisfactory time abroad.
However, he said that student migrations, especially to Canada, are showing a decline in primary applications since September last year may be because of the current developments in that country. Canada was the biggest market with close to 2 lakh students migrating from India per year, he said adding that the situation is expected to be normal with the new government in place.
ExTravelMoney is currently catering to approximately 18,000 to 20,000 users annually, with a customer base of close to 1.7 lakh to date. This includes Indians traveling abroad, Indian students studying overseas, and NRIs. Travellers make up 60 per cent of the total users, while the remaining 40 per cent consists of students and NRIs.
The platform also supports forex cards for living expenses abroad and facilitates international money transfers, allowing parents to send money securely and affordably. For students, these cost-saving measures can result in annual savings of ₹30,000 to ₹50,000, he added.