[Case Study] How Kingston University streamlined and simplified US loan disbursements with Flywire

For Kingston University, processing payments received from a small number of U.S. students using federal or private loans—from the U.S. government, Veterans Affairs, Sallie Mae, Earnest and others—to fund their studies, was time consuming and inefficient.

Propelled by the introduction of a hefty annual charge by the education payment provider they were using at the time, Kingston University turned to Flywire for a better way to process their U.S. loan disbursements.

Beyond the financial impact, the university also needed to solve numerous operational pain points that were disproportionately impacting the team’s efficiency. As a long-time customer already utilising Flywire’s global payment solution and Student Financial Software to unify the student journey, Kingston University were confident Flywire was who they should turn to.

The problem: Highly manual, time-intensive loan payment processing

Only around 50 students out of the 4000+ international students attending Kingston University pay with U.S. loans. However, processing these loans was labour intensive, with four issues:

• Data collection hurdles: Collecting beneficiary data either involved a batch-based CSV upload process or batch mailers. However, the data request links often expired before students input their data – within 72 hours – meaning staff often had to manually send reminders to students. Though a small task, it accumulated into significant administrative time.
• Lack of data validation: The previous system lacked validation checks when students provided bank details to Kingston University, meaning errors (e.g. missing digits or incorrect format) were not identified and impacted payment success.
• Manual reconciliation: Kingston University relied on spreadsheets to track loan-by-loan breakdown of received payments and manually calculate exchange rates. How much was still owed to the University in GBP, or was owed back to the student as a refund was also manually tracked, and they lacked any real-time visibility into the payments.
• Double currency conversion: With their previous solution, the entirety of the loan funds would always be converted into GBP. If the student was due an overage payment but wanted the money sent to their home account, it had to be converted back to USD. This double currency conversion meant students were receiving less than they were actually due.

The solution: Flywire’s modern, intuitive Financial Aid Disbursements solution

Kingston University partnered with Flywire to further develop an existing solution to directly address the real-world administrative difficulties they, and other U.K. institutions, face when managing U.S. loan payments.

Results: Streamlined daily operations resulting in strong ROI

By addressing small but significant pain points, the Flywire Financial Aid Disbursements solution has not only improved internal efficiency but has significantly enhanced the student experience. Following the quick and simple implementation, Kingston University has:

• Reduced manual work for staff. Beneficiary links no longer expire, and the system automatically sends two reminders to students (after three and seven days), drastically cutting down on manual follow-up. Form validation checks ensure inputted bank details are the correct format, mitigating payment failures and delays. Setting up an ad-hoc beneficiary is now a simple, quick process, taking just minutes and requiring only their name, student ID, and email.
• Increased payment visibility. Staff can track every single step of a payment, with clear statuses showing when payments are initiated, verified, or returned, removing confusion and eliminating back-and-forth emails. Staff can easily access information on incoming and outgoing funds, recipient details, and all transactions on the portal, which allows them to pull and change data as needed. This is also beneficial for audit purposes.
• Automated calculations previously done in Excel. The platform now provides easy visibility for loan-by-loan breakdowns of received payments, helping the team efficiently allocate funds internally. It automatically calculates if there is a deficit, or if funds are owed back to the student, removing the reliance on manual Excel calculations.
• Simplified file management. Flywire’s solution enables Kingston University to process payments even if a student’s loan is less than the total amount due. This saves time manually updating import files and has reduced the number of required uploads, further simplifying and accelerating the transaction process.
• Simplified the beneficiary process. The process for setting up beneficiaries is simple for students to follow, and once completed, they receive notifications about their disbursement status.
• Eliminated double currency conversion. Flywire automatically calculates the currency conversion and amount due to the institution in GBP. If the student was due an overage payment, and the beneficiary account on file is in the U.S., the payment is automatically processed in USD, thus avoiding double currency conversion fees.
• Quick resolution to queries and issues: Flywire’s highly responsive customer service team are on hand to answer queries and resolve any issues that arise.