Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

The government on Wednesday proposed to hike the <keyword id="9215522" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tcs-rate" source="Orion">TCS rate</keyword> to 20 per cent from 5 per cent currently on overseas tour packages and a liberalized remittance scheme for remittance of funds out of <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. The Finance Bill, through the Budget 2023-24, amended Section 206C of the Income Tax Act levying a higher Tax Collected at Source (<keyword id="6357150" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tcs" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="tcs" meta.entityname="Tata Consultancy Services Ltd." meta.entityid="8345" meta.seoname="tata-consultancy-services-ltd">TCS</keyword>) on overseas tour programme packages. Also, 20 per cent TCS will be applicable in cases where funds in excess of Rs 7 lakh are sent out of India under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of the RBI. The amendments will come into effect from July 1, 2023. Nangia Andersen India Partner Amit Agrawal said the increase in TCS rate to 20 per cent is a big surprise, especially with the comfortable forex position. "The increase in TCS rates to 20 per cent for <keyword id="148355" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="overseas-travel" source="Orion">overseas travel</keyword> perhaps underscores the government's intention to restrict overseas travel spending by HNI's," Agarwal said. Agarwal said the step to increase TCS to 20 per cent for all remittances, other than travel and medical is likely to cause resentment and hardship amongst the middle class and HNIs. "This is especially true since many students aspire for foreign education and the cost of education and living is usually met by parents through LRS, the blanket rate of 20 per cent on all residuary remittances would mean that foreign remittance for education / maintenance is likely to be costlier owing to the 20 per cent TCS," Agrawal said. Deloitte India Partner Neeru Ahuja said TCS on overseas tour packages or liberalized remittance scheme for remittance of funds out of India has been proposed to be increased from 5 per cent to 20 per cent. "Despite the TCS being creditable in the hands of taxpayers, the same shall lead to higher cash outflow at the first instance in the hands of taxpayers," Ahuja said. Tax and consulting firm AKM Global, Tax Partner Amit Maheshwari said, "TCS has been proposed on any foreign payment without any threshold. "This would pose challenges for people intending to go for foreign travel and who wish to invest in overseas stocks as it will increase their immediate outlay," Maheshwari said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/life-insurance-stocks-fall-up-to-10-after-budget-pushes-for-new-tax-regime/articleshow/97526113.cms">Life insurance stocks fall up to 10% after Budget pushes for new tax regime</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-blow-to-hnis-claiming-huge-deductions-for-expensive-houses/articleshow/97525649.cms">Budget blow to HNIs claiming huge deductions for expensive houses</a>

Budget proposes hike in TCS on overseas travel, fund remittances out of India to 20%

<ul><li>Khan, who was sworn in a few days ago, made a televised speech asking overseas Pakistanis to send money back to the country in the form of investments and <keyword id="6369957" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="remittances">remittances</keyword>. </li><li>It has been estimated that the country needs a cash infusion of around $12 billion to stay afloat. </li><li>Khan is wary of raising funds from a financial institution like the IMF, and could instead seek help from <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> and <keyword id="50996" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saudi-Arabia">Saudi Arabia</keyword>. </li></ul><keyword id="3001" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pakistan">Pakistan</keyword>’s new prime minister, <keyword id="14676" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Imran-Khan">Imran Khan</keyword>, has his immediate task cut out for him - to fix the country’s dire finances. And rather than making a plea to global institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or Chinese creditors, he’s calling on Pakistani citizens abroad to contribute to the country’s foreign reserves. In a bid to stave off a <keyword id="6371665" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-crisis">financial crisis</keyword>, Khan, who was sworn in a few days ago, made a televised speech asking overseas Pakistanis to send money back to the country in the form of investments and remittances. It has been estimated that the country needs a cash infusion of around $12 billion to stay afloat. Pakistan’s fiscal and trade deficits have skyrocketed as imports have far exceeded exports, tax collection has been poor and the currency has already been devalued four times since December 2017. The country has also been saddled with billions of dollars worth of debt as a result of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $62 billion infrastructure programme spearheaded by China. Khan is wary of raising funds from a financial institution like the IMF, which has bailed Pakistan out many times before in the past, owing to the stringent conditions that come with such a programme such as - spending restrictions and a limit on bond issues. His party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, has, instead, suggested it could raise funds from China or Middle Eastern allies or get Pakistani citizens abroad to subscribe to a government bond issue. For its part, the IMF, along with the White House, have been wary that a bailout for Pakistan could be used by the government to pay back its Chinese loans. Meanwhile, Chinese banks are also wary at the prospect of extending further loans to Pakistan owing to the currency crisis and volatility in emerging markets. In a heartening sign for the new prime minister, remittances in July were up by 21% to $1.9 billion in July 2018, partly owing to the country’s tax amnesty scheme for foreign assets. Most of the country’s remittances come from Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and with oil prices having regained momentum in the recent past, the growth in remittances is likely to continue. Khan will look to take advantage of this. As he embarks on a five-year term, he will likely woo as many overseas Pakistanis as he can with repatriation and investment schemes. His government’s ability to spend and manage the country might just depend on it.

Staring at a financial crisis, Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan asks overseas citizens for funds

Everyone wants the <keyword id="6355253" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Federal-Reserve">Federal Reserve</keyword> to say how it will unwind the $3 trillion balance sheet amassed from years of quantitative easing.
Indeed, this was something of a hot topic in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-ben-bernanke-senate-testimony-2013-2">Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony</a> before Congress last week.
One of the big issues the central bank faces is the inevitable loss it will have to take when interest rates rise and the value of the Fed's bond portfolio declines.
Although not an economic problem — <a href="http://barnejek.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/central-banks-exit-strategies-and-space-travels/">as "losses" </a><a href="http://barnejek.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/central-banks-exit-strategies-and-space-travels/">for a central bank are more of an accounting issue</a> — there could be a PR problem when the Fed stops making payments to the Treasury from the interest income it receives on its bond portfolio.
Deutsche Bank strategist Stephen Abrahams <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-losses-could-harm-public-perception-2013-1">recently explained why this could be such a nightmare</a>:
The possibility of suspending remittances and carrying unrealized losses could complicate the Fed’s relationships with the rest of Washington and the public. While remittances help the federal government pay down debt, any shortfall in operating income leading to a suspension of remittances would require the Fed to borrow from Treasury.
And while unrealized losses have no effect on Fed operations because of the way government accounts for them, they would leave a private company technically insolvent. It is unclear how Washington and the public might react to these circumstances and whether the Fed’s independence might be challenged.
The Fed appears already to be preparing for this problem. Below is the explanation Bernanke provided in his Congressional testimony:
Another aspect of the Federal Reserve's policies that has been discussed is their implications for the federal budget. The Federal Reserve earns substantial interest on the assets it holds in its portfolio, and, other than the amount needed to fund our cost of operations, all net income is remitted to the Treasury. With the expansion of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, yearly remittances have roughly tripled in recent years, with payments to the Treasury totaling approximately $290 billion between 2009 and 2012.<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20130226a.htm#fn6" title="footnote 6">6</a>
<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20130226a.htm#fn6" title="footnote 6"></a>However, if the economy continues to strengthen, as we anticipate, and policy accommodation is accordingly reduced, these remittances would likely decline in coming years. Federal Reserve analysis shows that remittances to the Treasury could be quite low for a time in some scenarios, particularly if interest rates were to rise quickly.<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20130226a.htm#fn7" title="footnote 7">7</a>
That's the bad news with regard to remittances. Bernanke goes on, though, in an attempt to mitigate it:
<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20130226a.htm#fn7" title="footnote 7"></a>However, even in such scenarios, it is highly likely that average annual remittances over the period affected by the Federal Reserve's purchases will remain higher than the pre-crisis norm, perhaps substantially so. Moreover, to the extent that monetary policy promotes growth and job creation, the resulting reduction in the federal deficit would dwarf any variation in the Federal Reserve's remittances to the Treasury.
This morning, <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/yellen20130302a.htm">in a new speech</a>, Fed Vice-Chairman <keyword id="116249" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Janet-Yellen">Janet Yellen</keyword> devoted some space to the topic of remittances as well. Below is the key section from Yellen's speech in which she attempts to play down the effect of lower remittances:
Focusing only on the ebb and flow of the Federal Reserve's remittances to the Treasury, however, is not, in my view, the appropriate way to evaluate the effect of these purchases on the government's finances. More germane is the overall effect of the program on federal finances. If the purchases provide even a modest boost to economic activity, increased tax payments would swamp any reduction in remittances. By depressing longer-term interest rates, the purchases also hold down the Treasury's debt service costs.
These effects can be quantified through simulations of the Board's FRB/US model. In the simulation I described earlier, a hypothetical program involving $500 billion of asset purchases would reduce the ratio of federal debt to gross domestic product (GDP) by about 1.5 percentage points by late 2018. The lower debt-to-GDP ratio mainly reflects stronger tax revenue as a result of more-robust economic activity.
It's becoming clear that Fed is becoming increasingly concerned about public perception, especially given all of the chatter about how the Fed is going to exit.
Yellen and Bernanke are laying the groundwork, explaining why although the lack of remittances might not be great PR-wise, they're not technically problematic for any economic reasons.

The Fed Is Starting To Prepare For A Future PR Nightmare

New Delhi, Apr 16 () DCB Bank has witnessed significant jump in its foreign remittance services on the coronavirus outbreak, specially for education purposes, as parents want to ensure their children abroad have sufficient money to sustain themselves in situation of a lockdown. "Since March 15, our volumes on outward remittance services have increased many fold. There is a significant difference in before-and-after demand since mid of March," said Praveen Kutty, Head of Retail and SME Banking, DCB Bank without quantifying the increase in demand.Kutty said the bank has been getting large number of calls from resident Indians as to how they can send money to their children studying abroad, for immigrant Indians and for medical emergencies, among others."There are people whose children are stuck in various places and flying back is not an option. Parents are really worried and want to ensure that at least economically they have means to keep going...That is where DCB Remit comes in," he said in an interaction.Kutty said one need not to be a DCB customer to send money abroad, the person can avail the remittance service by logging into www.dcbremit.com. One can use the DCB Remit platform by transferring funds from savings bank account in another bank anywhere in India to a specified DCB Bank account. However, one needs to activate the fund transfer by using the net banking facility from existing account."Once the indicative exchange rate is put forth, the customer can transfer the funds from any account to DCB Bank's account. The funds will then be transferred to the beneficiary account abroad latest by the next business day," the official added. DCB Bank offers this service for as many as 22 countries including the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Canada, the UAE and the Eurozone.This facility can be availed of in seven currencies - the US, Australian, Canadian and Singapore Dollar, British Pound, Euro and UAE Dirham.Money can also be transferred abroad for health purposes and payment of hostel fees by Indian students abroad, family maintenance, business travel, gifting, visa fees and private visits, Kutty added.The limit for overseas fund transfer via DCB Remit is USD 25,000 and/or equivalent in other permitted currencies per financial year, subject to the purpose available on DCB Remit platform.The bank said it has been offering the services, which was launched nearly one and half years back, with a zero cost for a limited time promotion. KPM KPM ANUANU

DCB Bank sees significant jump in foreign remittance services on coronavirus pandemic

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mark Mobius said last week he couldn't pull investment funds from his bank account in Shanghai.</li><li>He said China's government was putting "all kinds of barriers" up and he would be careful investing there.</li></ul>China is pushing back against billionaire investor Mark Mobius's recent warning that the nation was restricting capital outflows.<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/mark-mobius-china-investing-capital-restricting-outflows-markets-strategy-jinping-2023-3?_gl=1*1vv77r*_ga*NTQwNTIzMjY5LjE2NzM5NjU3NzI.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3NzE2NDMyMy4xNTIuMC4xNjc3MTY0MzIzLjAuMC4w">The pioneering emerging-markets investor said last week</a> he was unable to pull his funds from an HSBC bank account in Shanghai. The Chinese government was putting "all kinds of barriers" up to make it hard for investors to take out their money and he would be extremely careful investing there, Mobius added.But Chinese authorities from the State Administration on Foreign Exchange (SAFE) have<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/china-denies-mark-mobius-claims.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> told CNBC</a> that nothing had changed in the country's policy on cross-border fund transfers. "We have noticed that relevant market participants have doubts about the bank's handling of their personal fund remittance businesses," SAFE said in a Monday statement to CNBC. "There is no change in the country's policy on cross-border remittance of funds," it added. While the administrative agency didn't mention HSBC by name – the bank where Mobius has his account – in the statement, officials told CNBC it's merely a matter of a "basic process and internal control requirements of the bank handling specific business."Meanwhile, Mobius told Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao that the issue seemed to have been resolved, but he didn't give specifics on how that happened, according to reports Tuesday by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/china-denies-mark-mobius-claims.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-07/mobius-s-banking-headache-highlights-scrutiny-on-china-outflows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other media outlets.</a>Mobius, the founder of Mobius Capital Partners, has spent years traveling the world in pursuit of finding investment opportunities. "I'm personally affected because I have an account with HSBC in Shanghai. I can't get my money out. The government is restricting the flow of money out of the country," he said in the <a href="https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6321550787112#sp=show-clips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox Business</a> interview last Thursday. "So I would be very, very careful investing in China." "It's just amazing. They're putting all kinds of barriers," he said. "They don't say, 'No, you can't get your money out,' but they say, 'Give us all the records from 20 years of how you've made this money,' and so forth. It's crazy," Mobius added.

China rebuffs billionaire investor Mark Mobius's warning that the government made it harder to get money out, report says

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">AzimoAzimo cofounders Michael Kent, left, and Marta Krupinska.</div></div></div>Online-only international money transfer startup Azimo has raised $15 million (£10.3 million) to break into Asia and is relaunching its app with new branding.Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten led the investment through its $100 million (£69 million) fintech, or financial technology, fund. Rakuten owns Japan's largest e-commerce platform, which shares its name, and Viber, a rival to WhatsApp. It also has investments in the likes of Pinterest.Azimo, founded in 2012, lets people send money to over 190 countries around the world. The startup focuses on the remittance market: migrants sending money to their families back home. Azimo's general manager and cofounder Marta Krupinska told BI that 1/2 a million people are now connected to Azimo's platform and the company has around 90 staff across two offices in Krakow and London.The fresh funding round will be used to help Azimo expand in Asia, where it already operates in Thailand and the Philippines. Krupinska told BI: "We're looking at Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. The new money will be partly that - but also leveraging the contacts and reputation of Rakuten and having them as a strategic partner."We're in a very fortunate place in that we're often approached by people who want to give us money. We're looking at people who will bring more than just the money. Asia is the next place we want to move to and the guys [Rakuten] are already there and have a fantastic knowledge of both finance and e-commerce."Azimo <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/15/money-transfer-startup-azimo-raises-20m-at-a-100m-valuation/">raised $20 million last year at a reported valuation of $100 million (£69 million)</a> but Krupinska would not disclose the valuation in the new round, saying only it is a "significant" uplift on the last round.She says: "There's a whole conversation around valuations and how they can be inflated. We are very much after strong growth in customer metrics rather than just valuations. It's a little bit like following a false god [focusing on valuation]. It doesn't end well often."So how is Azimo growing? "The most interesting growth we're seeing is growth in our mobile app usage, about 300% on last year," Krupinska says.WorldRemit, another London-based startup building app-focused remittance services, was <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/worldremit-founder-ismail-ahmed-mobile-wallets-moneyconf-500-million-valuation-2015-6">last year valued at $500 million (£345.3 million) in a $100 million (£69 million) funding round.</a>As well as leveraging Rakuten's connections to expand to Asia, Krupinska also hinted that Azimo could partner with its messaging platform to offer social payments. She says: "Rakuten's profile as the owners of Viber - that is a massive opportunity given that we see fintech and social messaging apps integrating closer and closer together."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image">AzimoAzimos new apps and branding.</div></div></div>Azimo is also today launching an overhauled app that adds more social elements, alongside a rebranding. Krupinska says: "We have an intelligent chat that asks you basic information that asks you things like where you are, where you want to send money to, things like that. This is the direction in which the world is going, right?"Facebook offered tried to lure one of Azimo's cofounders away from the company to help it build social financial services products, <a href="https://next.ft.com/content/0e0ef050-c16a-11e3-97b2-00144feabdc0">according to a 2014 Financial Times report that the company has never commented on.</a>Krupinska continues: "We're thinking about what customers are missing out from when they're moving from offline remittances to online remittances. Traditionally you would go to a Western Union, give them some money over the counter, and there'd be an interaction with the teller."This is not a scalable or a cheap solution but how can we add this element of interaction to the products that we're building. It is much more conversational and a much easier experience for the customer. It effectively guides the customer through the transaction."She adds: "We added a bunch of other things: biometric security, we're using fingerprints; we've added sharing status; we've made it very easy for customers to track where their money is and when it's going to get to the recipient; we've also added an invite a friend scheme."Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel, Managing Partner at the Rakuten fintech fund, says in an email statement: "Azimo has cemented itself as the European specialist in digital remittances and its global network is unrivalled in the industry."This is a testament to an outstanding team, led by Michael and Marta, who saw an opportunity four years ago to disrupt the $600 billion remittance industry."<div id="categorypromo"></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/real-housewife-bethenny-frankels-business-mistake-2016-5">How one simple mistake cost 'Real Housewives' superstar Bethenny Frankel millions</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="treGpzdDrlNasuxsLTPw1AeeqbEP3zlz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

International money transfer app Azimo raises $15 million from Japan's Rakuten to crack Asia

Credit card payments for foreign travel will be brought under the purview of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (<keyword id="447038" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="lrs" source="Orion">LRS</keyword>) of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that such expenses do not escape <keyword id="6357150" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tcs" source="Orion">TCS</keyword> (Tax Collection at Source). While moving the <keyword id="25455" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="finance" source="Orion">Finance</keyword> Bill 2023 for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank has been asked to look into ways to bring credit card payments on foreign tours under the LRS. "It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through a credit card are not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source (TCS)," she said. The <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> is being requested to look into this with a view to bringing credit card payments for foreign tours within the ambit of LRS and tax collection at source thereon, she added. The Union Budget 2023 proposed a TCS for foreign outward remittance under LRS other than for Education and medical purposes of 20 per cent applicable from July 1, 2023. Before this proposal, the TCS of 5 per cent was applicable on foreign outward remittances above Rs 7 lakh. <keyword id="735754" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tax-collected-at-source" source="Orion">Tax Collected at Source</keyword> (TCS) is an income tax, collected by the seller of specified goods, from the buyer. TCS is a concept where a person selling specific items is liable to collect tax from a buyer at a prescribed rate and deposit the same with the government. The LRS, introduced in 2004, initially permitted an outflow of USD 25,000. The LRS limit has been revised in stages consistent with prevailing macro and micro economic conditions. LRS permits Indians to freely remit up to USD 250,000 (about Rs 2.05 crore) per financial year for current or capital account transactions or a combination of both. Any remittance exceeding this limit requires prior permission from the RBI. The rules clearly mention that one can remit foreign exchange (forex) only for any permissible current account transactions or capital account transactions or a combination of both. If one wishes to invest abroad in shares, property etc, the LRS rules will define them as capital account transactions. Only certain capital account transactions are allowed under LRS rules such as opening a bank account abroad i.e. a Foreign Currency Account, purchasing real estate property overseas, for making investments overseas which includes investing in shares, mutual funds, and debt instruments amongst others. Authorised dealers, such as banks, enable such transactions between residents and their overseas dependents, using only PAN cards for verification. Besides remittances, LRS can also offer foreign exchange services to Indian citizens for medical expenses or travelling. However, corporates, partnership firms, HUFs, and charitable trusts are not eligible to use the LRS. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/debt-schemes-of-mfs-lose-edge-over-bank-deposits-as-budget-proposes-to-scrap-ltcg-indexation-benefits/articleshow/98965932.cms">Debt schemes of MFs lose edge over bank deposits as Budget proposes to scrap LTCG &amp; indexation benefits</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/canva-just-got-a-major-ai-upgrade-with-new-features-like-magic-eraser-text-to-image-and-moreheres-what-they-do/articleshow/98965377.cms">Canva just got a major AI upgrade with new features like Magic Eraser, Text to Image, and more–here’s what they do</a>

Credit card payments on foreign tours to be brought under LRS to ensure compliance with TCS

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>London-based money transfer startup <a href="https://www.worldremit.com/en/news/world-remit-raises-100m-funding-round-to-drive-global-growth">WorldRemit has raised $100 million (£64.8 million) in a funding round</a> that values the company at around $500 million (£324 million), <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4103ddf8-b69d-11e4-a5f2-00144feab7de.html#axzz3S5WJaXex">sources familiar with the matter told the Financial Times</a>.The investment is a growing sign of confidence in the British technology scene.Founded in 2010, WorldRemit offers a cheaper alternative to traditional remittance services like Western Union, letting customers send funds overseas. It currently offers 50 sender countries and 117 receivers, and plans to use the funds to expand this.The funding round is led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), which has an A-list portfolio of previous technology investments. In the past its helped fund Facebook, GoDaddy, Expedia, Netflix, Spotify, VICE Media, and others.This funding round is the second in less than 12 months for WorldRemit. VC firm Accel Partners previously invested $40 million in the company. Accel also joins today's funding round. The news comes just weeks after <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/transferwise-58-million-andreessen-horowitz-2015-1">TransferWise, another London money transfer startup, raised $58 million</a> in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, another high-profile Silicon Valley investor group. Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz also joined the company's board.It's a clear sign of increasing interest in FinTech products by investors. "The $550 billion global remittance market is undergoing significant disruption with a clear shift to online and mobile solutions for international money transfer," TCV General Partner John Rosenberg said in a statement. "We are delighted to partner with Ismail and the WorldRemit team, who are at the forefront in offering convenient, low-cost solutions, backed by a market leading technology platform, compliance infrastructure, and geographic footprint." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-shilling-honey-holiday-present-2014-12">Here's Why Anybody Who Is Somebody In Finance Is Getting This Bottle Of Honey From Gary Shilling</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I2ZzJzNDqAHY3KWwI5t3QBW4_4Q1aT5b" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

London money transfer startup WorldRemit just raised $100 million

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Iñigo Rumayor is the co-founder of <a href="https://www.regalii.com/en/about/mission">Regalii</a>, a FinTech startup that lets people send money overseas.When we started our FinTech startup <a href="https://www.regalii.com/">Regalii</a>, over 3 years ago, I thought that we knew everything there was to know about remittances, FinTech and its customers. As a Mexican native living around the world, I had received and sent remittances for years. In Mexico, remittances are a part of our daily lives, as much as mariachis and our delicious tacos.As it turns out, most of what I thought I knew turned out to be wrong. 5 of the biggest surprises are below:<h3>1. Online fraud can kill you</h3>Fraud is one of the biggest headaches for any e-commerce company, but for remittance and payment companies it can be a nightmare. When we started Regalii, I remember one investor saying, "One month of fraud can kill your company." I laughed it off. We quickly learned how right he was.Fraudsters are attracted to remittance and payments companies because the product is cash. A fraudulent credit card transaction gets a fraudster $500 USD vs, say, 10 bags of dog food at other e-commerce companies. Because of this reality, fraudsters work 40 hours+ a week trying to break the system; this is the way they make their living.Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, which are an electronic way of processing payments, make this piece of the puzzle even harder to solve.Online remittances are mainly processed by ACH because it only costs around $0.20 per transaction, but it takes on average 2 to 3 days to clear. Therefore, when you send money and they say it arrives in minutes, the company has sent money to the recipient before actually receiving the money themselves.This is a huge liability. Remittance companies spend millions of dollars on fraud detection software in an attempt to filter fraudulent customers from real ones. There is an innate trade-off between giving customers the best experience and fraud protection. If you reject every suspicious transaction, you will end up rejecting a lot of real customers trying to use your service. It is extremely hard to find a balance.With credit card fraud, companies usually do not even know they have been fooled out of money until months after the transaction has taken place. Stolen credit card numbers are routinely sold overseas, where people use them to try and extract money from remittance companies. If they are successful, the owner of the credit card sees the charges on their credit card and files a charge back.When a chargeback happens, usually the whole process takes about 3 months to go full circle. After this time, the fraudster will have their money, the credit card owner will have been refunded, and you will have had the money taken away from your credit card processor.<h3>2. Compliance is a bitch</h3>Fintech startups in the United States need to comply not only with federal regulations but also with the states' unique regulations which differ from each other and federal laws. This means that you need follow 51 different guidelines just to operate in one country. Being registered as a money transmitter is a 2 year ordeal and will set you back about 3 million dollars. Naturally, most startups try to avoid it.The documentation on what is and what isn't considered kosher is very hard to locate and all the harder to understand. Many states haven't updated their rules since the advent of the Internet. The only people who can actually decipher the rules are highly paid lawyers who have personal relationships with each state regulator.Because of the pain of compliance in the US, many of the best FinTech companies do not start in the US, but rather pick Europe (London specifically) as a home base. Europe overall has much simpler laws governing money transfer and they are consistent across most of the EU.<h3>3. Customer acquisition is expensive!</h3>In order to easily acquire customers, I've learned that your product has to be 10 times better than the competition. Well, you can acquire customers other ways, but it's going to be crazy expensive.Acquiring customers is a hassle; even if you have a product that is 10X better than the next best product you still need to educate your customers and show them why it is better.Educating customers in the remittance industry is especially difficult. Remittance senders are sceptical by nature because they are routinely exploited as newcomers to this country. They don't trust new services; we've gotten the response "that is too good to be true" hundreds of times.Customer acquisition is not only hard, it is expensive. Xoom spends on average $50 USD to acquire every new customer. It is an iterative process by nature, where you need to do a lot of experiments until your customer acquisition is lower than your customer lifetime value. In layman's terms, the money you spend in getting a new customer needs to be less than the value of that customer. Your product might be better than the second best alternative, but if you can't find a way of acquiring customers in scale you are doomed to failure.Many new startups in the remittance industry offer lower fees than Western Union or other traditional remittance companies, but they haven't figured out a cost effective way to convince users to give their service a try. It is painful to see customers try your service just to receive their $50 USD sign up credit and never return, once it's redeemed.We gave away so much money acquiring customers, some of our customers just thought we were a charity.<h3>4. Customer trust takes time</h3>When we started Regalii we launched a service with NO fees and quickly realised that customers trusted the service even less. They couldn't believe that we were giving them a free service. In their minds they saw the service as a scam.Trust is extremely important for every Fintech startup and especially for remittance companies. Customers trust companies with their hard earned dollars and their families count on those funds for subsistence. Customers are extremely loyal to the companies that keep their promises and provide a transparent service.One of the reasons that WU and MoneyGram can charge huge fees is because customers trust their brands. Customers are willing to pay a premium for the service to guarantee that the money will get to their home countries. The fact that they can see the physical stores probably helps as well.<h3>5. Remitters are offline</h3>A few months after starting Regalii we realized that even though online remittances were quickly growing, <a href="https://www.regalii.com/blog/why-90-of-remittances-happen-offline">90% of the remittances still happened offline</a>. After moving our office to Washington Heights, New York (better known as the little Dominican Republic) we were able to take a closer look at who sends money and why they do it, to better understand why customer acquisition and trust is so difficult.We quickly realized that people sending money were mainly unbanked, which meant they didn't have a bank account or a credit card to transact online. Secondly, they felt uneasy about online transactions, fearing they would be victims of fraud. Finally, there were agents almost in every corner in the immigrant communities, making it sometimes more convenient and faster than sending money online.We learned that even though the future of remittances is online, the present is still offline. We came to realise that you can't overlook 90% of the pie. To enter the remittance market you need to create a dual approach in which you target both the present and start to prepare for the future.These are some of the main reasons why we think the remittance industry is especially challenging and exciting at the same time. While many of these lessons were painful to learn, they were all things which many young founders have to learn for themselves. The lessons, have lead us to change our focus to business transactions, so that customers can interact with brands they already trust, and release an API, supporting bill payment to more than 10 countries. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sachs-free-market-keynesian-approaches-wrong-2015-5">JEFF SACHS: Free-market and Keynesian approaches are both wrong</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Qwb3AwdTqYeGpuNklgrdaWj_b7SCyypz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

5 things we got totally wrong about FinTech

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11931676" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="el-salvador" source="Orion">El Salvador</keyword> has purchased 150 more bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 700, or roughly $31 million.</li><li>The country bought during the latest dip, as <keyword id="11893902" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bitcoin" source="Orion">bitcoin</keyword> slipped below $45,000 on Monday.</li><li>"They can never beat you if you buy the dips," President <keyword id="11931679" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nayib-bukele" source="Orion">Nayib Bukele</keyword> said in a tweet.</li></ul>El Salvador, the first country to make bitcoin a legal tender, has purchased 150 more bitcoins, bringing its total holdings of the cryptocurrency to 700, or roughly $31 million, President Nayib Bukele <a href="https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1439815012642611203?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">said in a tweet</a> on Monday.The millennial president said the country bought during the most recent dip as the world's largest digital asset <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitcoin-price-evergrande-default-crypto-sell-off-spillover-global-stocks-2021-9">slipped below $45,000</a> amid a broader cryptocurrency sell-off."They can never beat you if you buy the dips," Bukele <a href="https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1439821189279625217" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a tweet</a>.Bitcoin was last trading 7.86% lower at $43,650 as of 8:12 a.m ET.The purchase came almost two weeks after the Central American country moved to accept bitcoin as its official currency <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-salvador-bitcoin-mcdonalds-cryptocurrency-law-roll-out-failure-2021-9">despite criticism</a> from outside observers and the general public. The morning of the Bitcoin Law's roll out on September 7 was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-salvador-bitcoin-mcdonalds-cryptocurrency-law-roll-out-failure-2021-9">met with protests</a> by hundreds of Salvadorans.Still, Bukele believes the new initiative will transform the lives of the country's citizen, especially those who rely heavily on remittances to send and receive money from abroad. <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=SV&amp;most_recent_value_desc=falsealsealse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank data</a> reveal that remittances to the country made up nearly 20% of its gross domestic product in 2019 - ranking among the highest in the world.Bukele announced the country's intention to become the first in the world to accept bitcoin as a legal tender alongside the US dollar in June. In the same month, El Salvador <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/el-salvador-bitcoin-legal-tender-currency-cryptocurrency-2021-6">passed the law.</a>To prepare for <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> adoption, El Salvador installed over <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/el-salvador-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-200-atms-50-branches-adoption-chivo-2021-8">200 bitcoin ATMs</a> throughout the country as well as in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-salvador-bitcoin-chivo-atms-cryptocurrency-remittances-money-bukele-2021-9?amp=">US</a> to make remittances cheaper for Salvadorans living abroad.International organizations including the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/imf-international-monetary-fund-risk-el-salvador-bitcoin-legal-tender-2021-6?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Monetary Fund</a> and the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/el-salvador-bitcoin-btc-world-bank-help-rejected-environment-transparency-2021-6?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank</a>, however, as well as major banks such as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/el-salvador-bitcoin-adoption-poses-network-challenges-blockchain-jpmorgan-2021-7?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JPMorgan</a> and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitcoin-el-salvador-remittances-investment-developing-countries-bank-of-america-2021-8?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bank of America</a>, have expressed concerns regarding the country's bold move, citing financial and economic risks.

El Salvador buys another 150 bitcoins to bring its total holdings of the cryptocurrency to $31 million

New Delhi, May 6 () The 57-day nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 will result in a sharp 13 per cent fall in toll collections and remittances, CRISIL Research said on Wednesday.In case, the lockdown is extended by another two weeks, the decline will be even sharper at 17 per cent, it said."Traffic on highways set to de-grow 16.5 per cent this fiscal, which would cull toll collection by 13 per cent in base case," a CRISIL Research statement said.With the nationwide lockdown to fight the COVID-19 pandemic restricting inter- and intra-state traffic to essential services, toll collections from build-operate-transfer (BOT) highway projects, and remittances from publicly funded projects would decline sharply in the near term, it said. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the nodal agency for the roads sector, had stopped toll collections up to April 20, 2020, after the government imposed the nationwide lockdown on March 25. Toll collection has restarted since, but there is unlikely to be a V-shaped revival in traffic after the lockdown ends, probably on May 17, the statement said adding, there will only be a gradual return to normalcy. "Consequently, toll collections and remittances from existing roads will fall a sharp 13 per cent assuming there's only a 57-day lockdown (from March 22 to May 17). That decline will be an even sharper 17 per cent if the lockdown is extended by another two weeks," it said. While construction of new highways is also affected, those constructed and commissioned over the past one year will help reduce the rate of decline in toll collections by more than half. Over the long term - fiscals 2019-2024, CRISIL Research said it expects toll collections to bounce back to a healthier compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11-12 per cent on the back of new road construction. "This, however, is lower than the 14.6 per cent clocked in the preceding five fiscals. New road executions will hold the key to both reducing the impact of the lockdown in the immediate term and boosting growth over the long term," it said. NAM MKJ

You Searched For "fund remittances" and got 11 results

Budget proposes hike in TCS on overseas travel, fund remittances out of India to 20%

PTI

Staring at a financial crisis, Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan asks overseas citizens for funds

Dilsher Dhillon

The Fed Is Starting To Prepare For A Future PR Nightmare

Matthew Boesler

DCB Bank sees significant jump in foreign remittance services on coronavirus pandemic

PTI

China rebuffs billionaire investor Mark Mobius's warning that the government made it harder to get money out, report says

Zinya Salfiti

International money transfer app Azimo raises $15 million from Japan's Rakuten to crack Asia

Oscar Williams-Grut

Credit card payments on foreign tours to be brought under LRS to ensure compliance with TCS

PTI

London money transfer startup WorldRemit just raised $100 million

Rob Price

5 things we got totally wrong about FinTech

Iñigo Rumayor, co-founder of …

El Salvador buys another 150 bitcoins to bring its total holdings of the cryptocurrency to $31 million

Isabelle Lee

Toll collections to see 13% drop due to 57-day coronavirus lockdown: CRISIL Research

PTI

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides