About us
About Us
peerTransfer was founded to address the specific money transfer needs of the growing international student population in the United States. To help facilitate the payment process for the student as well as the reconciliation process for the schools, peerTransfer has developed a secure and efficient solution for international student payments (e.g., tuition, fees and admission deposits) that saves each entity a significant amount of time and money.
Paying for college is expensive - particularly for international students unable to receive financial aid or access alternative financing and loans. With US colleges only accepting tuition payments in US dollars, international students are forced to either pay via wire transfer from their home country and incur fees and unfavorable retail exchange rates, or pay by credit card and suffer fees from their credit card provider. And, unfortunately, the problem does not end with the students. Many educational institutions experience issues processing and reconciling incoming payments from these students. Wires need to be manually reconciled and sometimes do not include the relevant information or are not the expected amount, due to fluctuating exchange rates and fees. Finally, the school’s banking information is often disclosed on their website to several third parties, potentially leaving the school open to fraud.
- For the International Student
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- Significant cost savings (up to thousands of dollars for a year tuition) due to wholesale-rate foreign exchange and lower transfer fees than traditional banks.
- A more reliable and convenient experience offering peace of mind that tuition payments arrive in full and are quickly posted to student accounts.
peerTransfer addresses the problems faced by both the students and schools by offering a secure, seamless, and easy-to-navigate system for students that not only enables them to pay in their home currency, but saves them a significant amount of money when doing so. For many currencies, peerTransfer provides foreign exchange rates unmatched by traditional banks. These rates can result in a significant savings – up to thousands of dollars per each year of tuition. And, unlike large financial institutions, peerTransfer provides international 24x7 support across multiple channels – voice, Skype, chat or email – to guide students through the process. peerTransfer is completely free for schools, can be turned on in a matter of hours and has been proven to save overhead, by ensuring all student information is included in the transfer.
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peerTransfer was founded at MIT as a direct result of the issues experienced by its founder and former international student, Iker Marcaide. While working in London at a management consulting firm, Iker was about to begin schooling at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in the United States. As he experienced first-hand the difficulty and frustration of transferring funds from a European bank to MIT, paying high fees and not having his money arrive on time, he envisioned a solution that alleviate these issues. Following his time at MIT, Iker developed and launched the peerTransfer solution. Today, it is helping many leading universities and their students find an easier and more efficient way to transfer funds.
