London-listed cross-border payments disruptor Wise PLC (LSE:WISE) is looking to make further inroads into India’s $32 billion remittance market following a relaxation of capital controls imposed by India’s central bank.
Wise customers were previously subject to a $5,000 remittance cap per transaction, per a Bloomberg report, but this cap now no longer applies.
According to Bloomberg, Wise closed its payment app to new Indian customers in recent months in order to strengthen its infrastructure, but the company will begin taking in new customers again in the coming months.
“India is a huge market for remittance,” said Wise’s APAC head of expansion Shrawan Saraogi. “We will be primarily focusing on cross-border movement that’s currently almost entirely done by banks.”
According to the Reserve Bank of India, outbound remittances, being the amount of cash sent from Indian residents to other countries, swelled to nearly $32 billion under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) in the 12 months to March 2024.
Over $17 billion of these remittances were for travel purposes, with ‘studies abroad’ and ‘maintenance of close relatives’ also major factors.