NIUM (formerly InstaReM) launches Digital Cross-Border Payments Platform in Indonesia

Consolidating its strong position in the digital cross-border payments space in Southeast Asia, the recently-rebranded NIUM (formerly, InstaReM) has received the Fund Transfers license from the Bank Indonesia. With NIUM’s innovative payments platform, retail consumers, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Financial Institutions and the other payment service providers in Indonesia can look forward to a seamless digital experience while moving money – whether sending or receiving - across borders.    

NIUM-powered PT InstaReM Mitra Indonesia is registered as a Fund Transfer Operator with the Bank Indonesia to remit and transmit funds in and out of Indonesia. NIIUM’s digital money transfer service will enable consumers and enterprises in Indonesia to send money to over sixty destinations globally efficiently and cost-effectively. 

The NIUM platform will also enable globally-connected enterprises and fintech companies in Indonesia to make B2B commercial payments, issue their own-branded employee expense cards, supplier card payments and customer cards. The NIUM platform will also enable the enterprise users in Indonesia to automate and expedite the receipt of multi-currency payments from the different parts of the world with account real-time receivable tracking.  

Prajit Nanu, the India-born Co-founder and CEO of NIUM (formerly known as InstaReM) said: “We already serve Indonesia as an inbound market and are excited to launch our complete value proposition now with the new license that empowers us to conduct outbound transfers from Indonesia. With Indonesia’s enterprising population increasingly connecting with their global counterparts, we see immense potential for cross-border money movements in and out of Indonesia. One of the most promising markets in the Asia, Indonesia offers a great ecosystem for fintech services like NIUM to develop and grow. We are confident that NIUM’s innovative payments solutions will enable individual and enterprise users in Indonesia to send, spend and collect money to and from any part of the world – while saving on high transaction costs that are associated with traditional methods.”

NIUM’s Indonesian operations will be headed by the industry veteran Vadyo Munaan, who comes with extensive experience in financial services and payments industry at reputed organisations including Citibank GCB, Cigna International, Mastercard, Visa, Banks of Indonesia and MoneyGram.

"With growing individual remittances, cross-border trade, e-commerce, and freelancing opportunities, there is an urgent need for an efficient platform in Indonesia that addresses the needs of different stakeholders while sending or receiving payments across borders. With its unmatched technological capabilities and strong global banking partnerships, NIUM's digital platform promises to take the pain out of the process. NIUM's global presence adds extensive payments network to the country’s cross-border payments infrastructure. We are delighted to introduce to Indonesia a full suite of NIUM products and services offering, which is coming at the perfect time to meet the changing needs of the market," says Vadyo.

About NIUM

NIUM (formerly known as InstaReM) was founded in 2015 with a mission to improve the cross-border payments experience for consumers in the APAC region. While continuing to be an expert in consumer remittances, InstaReM expanded and scaled its offerings to meet the needs of SMEs, Financial Institutions, Enterprises and other payment service providers. Its network is powered by a portfolio of licenses, hard-earned by building trust with financial regulators in over 38 countries.

NIUM’s platform - a digital collective of financial institutions, fintechs, eCommerce platforms, travel companies and online markets - offers a wide range of payments services grouped into three categories: Send, Spend and Receive. As a company, NIUM is continuously innovating and pushing boundaries. NIUM aspires to become enabler, creator of an open platform that businesses and partners can use to build a world free of the old constraints and restrictions – a world of Open Money.

InstaReM Joins Visa Fintech Fast-Track Program; Support to Indian Startups Setting Base in S'Pore

InstaReM announced that it is joining the global payments technology major Visa’s Fintech fast-track program in the Asia-Pacific region.

With this partnership, InstaReM gets access to Visa’s vast payments network. InstaReM’s Indian and other global fintech partners desirous of opening an office in Singapore can now ride on InstaReM’s digital ecosystem for payments and remittances. These fintech start-ups need not go through the hassle of getting relevant local licenses in Singapore.

InstaReM (short for Instant Remittance) is a leading digital cross-border payments company that enables consumers, businesses and banks to make international money transfers at a low cost. As part of the Visa fintech fast-track, the two companies will work together to build new solutions for moving money to and from different countries in fast, convenient ways that provide users with seamless digital payments and money transfer experiences.

Prajit Nanu, co-founder, and CEO of InstaReM, said, “It’s a matter of pride for InstaReM to be a part of the Visa fintech fast-track program. We will draw from Visa’s vast network and experience in payments services in Asia-Pacific and other regions. With this partnership, InstaReM will be able to issue cards for its fintech/start-up partners in Singapore in just four weeks of them being in the program. InstaReM’s partners looking to be a part of the payments and remittances ecosystem in Singapore will not have to wait for six-to-nine months that it takes currently."

“Even with all the digital forms of payment that exist today, transferring money internationally can still be a time-consuming, inefficient process,” said Hamish Moline, Head of Digital Partnerships, Asia Pacific, Visa. “We’re excited to welcome InstaReM to the Visa fintech fast-track program and to work with them on tackling an area of payments where there is still a lot of opportunities to bring innovation to the customer experience.”

The Visa fintech fast-track program makes it easier for fintechs to access the global Visa payments network. The program is part of Visa’s global strategy to open up its network and support a broad range of players that are developing new commerce experiences. The fintech fast-track program provides a new commercial framework that includes eased access to Visa’s payment capabilities and streamlined processes to support companies of different sizes and at different growth phases. For more information, visit Visa Fintech Fast-Track.

Founded in 2014 by Prajit Nanu and
Michael Bermingham, InstaReM is a Singapore-headquartered digital cross-border payments company with presence across Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe. InstaReM has created a unique payments mesh which is being leveraged by financial institutions, SMEs and individuals to make fast, low-cost cross-border payments available to more than 55+ countries. InstaReM is the first non-bank company to get the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval to offer outbound money transfer services from India.

InstaReM also serves institutional and corporate clients with its international business payments platform providing bulk, customized, multi-currency payment facilities. Since starting operations in 2015, InstaReM has raised US$ 38 million in three rounds of funding.

Instarem's investors include Global Founders Capital, Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings, GSR Ventures, SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund, MDI Ventures and Beacon Venture Capital. InstaReM is also a member of RippleNet, Ripple's global network of 200+ banks and other financial institutions, and a winner of Ripple’s Blockchain Innovator Award for innovations in the payments space.

InstaReM Gets RBI Approval to Offer Outbound Remittance Services from India

InstaReM, the Singapore-headquartered FinTech start-up offering convenient, fast and cost-effective cross-border money transfers to individuals and businesses, has received regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for facilitating overseas remittances from India.

InstaReM plans to start its outbound money transfer services from India by November 2017 in partnership with a leading AD-I (Authorized Dealer - Category I) bank, per RBI’s governing conditions for the partnership. With RBI’s approval in place, InstaReM will be able to effect outbound remittances from India for transactions pertaining to business / private visits, overseas education, medical treatment etc.

Announcing the receipt of RBI approval, Prajit Nanu, CEO and co-founder, InstaReM said, “An increasing number of Indians are now getting engaged with overseas counterparts for business, leisure, medical, education, entertainment-related activities, which involve transfer of money to foreign countries. Traditional ways of transferring money overseas are expensive due to high transfer charges along with hidden fees which are not known to the customers. With its automated platform and deep relationships with banks, InstaReM is able to offer transparent international money transfers – at a fraction of costs compared to the traditional players. With InstaReM’s superior platform and exceptional customer service, we are confident of capturing a substantial market for outbound money transfer from India.”

Traditional international money transfers from India are expensive and opaque. Depending on the amount transferred and destination country, banks and money transfer operators charge INR 750-1,500 in transfer fees, apart from the hidden FX spreads of up to 3% which are not known to the sender. For instance, to send INR 100,000 to the U.S., the sender ends up spending around INR 3,500-4,500 (INR 500-1,500 in transaction fees, plus up to INR 3,000 in FX charges) in traditional transfers. In contrast, InstaReM’s transparent fee of approx. 0.5% costs the sender just INR 500 for the same transaction. Recognizing its cost-effective service, the World Bank has consistently ranked InstaReM as the most competitive remittance platform in a number of Asian corridors including, Australia to India, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam as well as from Singapore to Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Another differentiator is that InstaReM is able to transfer funds within 24-36 hours in Asia, compared to the average two to four days transfer by banks.

Apart from the faster, hassle-free, and cost-effective cross-border remittances to individuals, the company also enables corporations and SMEs to make bulk payments using its institutional platform MassPay, which is a configurable solution for corporate / SME users to manage and control their high-volume remittances to multiple beneficiaries in multiple currencies via a seamless process.

InstaReM holds licenses to conduct money transfer business in Singapore, Hong Kong, U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada. The company has offices in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, a 100-people operations office in Mumbai and a technology center in Lithuania, and is well on its way to expanding into all markets in Europe and the U.S. by Q4 2017.

Since starting operations in August 2015, InstaReM has raised $18 million in two rounds of funding. Its investors include Global Founders Capital, Vertex Ventures (VC arm of Temasek Holdings), Fullerton Financial Holdings, GSR Ventures and SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund.

InstaReM Gets RBI Approval to Offer Outbound Remittance Services from India

InstaReM, the Singapore-headquartered FinTech start-up offering convenient, fast and cost-effective cross-border money transfers to individuals and businesses, has received regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for facilitating overseas remittances from India.

InstaReM plans to start its outbound money transfer services from India by November 2017 in partnership with a leading AD-I (Authorized Dealer - Category I) bank, per RBI’s governing conditions for the partnership. With RBI’s approval in place, InstaReM will be able to effect outbound remittances from India for transactions pertaining to business / private visits, overseas education, medical treatment etc.

Announcing the receipt of RBI approval, Prajit Nanu, CEO and co-founder, InstaReM said, “An increasing number of Indians are now getting engaged with overseas counterparts for business, leisure, medical, education, entertainment-related activities, which involve transfer of money to foreign countries. Traditional ways of transferring money overseas are expensive due to high transfer charges along with hidden fees which are not known to the customers. With its automated platform and deep relationships with banks, InstaReM is able to offer transparent international money transfers – at a fraction of costs compared to the traditional players. With InstaReM’s superior platform and exceptional customer service, we are confident of capturing a substantial market for outbound money transfer from India.”

Traditional international money transfers from India are expensive and opaque. Depending on the amount transferred and destination country, banks and money transfer operators charge INR 750-1,500 in transfer fees, apart from the hidden FX spreads of up to 3% which are not known to the sender. For instance, to send INR 100,000 to the U.S., the sender ends up spending around INR 3,500-4,500 (INR 500-1,500 in transaction fees, plus up to INR 3,000 in FX charges) in traditional transfers. In contrast, InstaReM’s transparent fee of approx. 0.5% costs the sender just INR 500 for the same transaction. Recognizing its cost-effective service, the World Bank has consistently ranked InstaReM as the most competitive remittance platform in a number of Asian corridors including, Australia to India, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam as well as from Singapore to Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Another differentiator is that InstaReM is able to transfer funds within 24-36 hours in Asia, compared to the average two to four days transfer by banks.

Apart from the faster, hassle-free, and cost-effective cross-border remittances to individuals, the company also enables corporations and SMEs to make bulk payments using its institutional platform MassPay, which is a configurable solution for corporate / SME users to manage and control their high-volume remittances to multiple beneficiaries in multiple currencies via a seamless process.

InstaReM holds licenses to conduct money transfer business in Singapore, Hong Kong, U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada. The company has offices in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, a 100-people operations office in Mumbai and a technology center in Lithuania, and is well on its way to expanding into all markets in Europe and the U.S. by Q4 2017.

Since starting operations in August 2015, InstaReM has raised $18 million in two rounds of funding. Its investors include Global Founders Capital, Vertex Ventures (VC arm of Temasek Holdings), Fullerton Financial Holdings, GSR Ventures and SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund.

Cross-border Payments Startup InstaRem Raises $13M from GSR Ventures and Others

InstaReM, one of APAC’s leading digital cross-border payments company has just received a $13 million investment led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH), and Global Founders Capital (GFC).

Mumbai-bred Prajit Nanu is a co-founder at InstaReM. An erstwhile global sales director of TMF Group and VP- sales and account management at WNS, he partnered with Michael Bermingham to set up InstaReM in 2014.

Singapore-headquartered InstaReM will use this investment to building out its global payment infrastructure, which has grown 8x in volumes since its March 2016 funding. The investment will also be used to boost the employee strength of its office in Mumbai where most of the company’s teams are based.

Jefferson Chen, Partner at GSR Ventures, said, “The global payments infrastructure InstaReM is building is unique in this industry and GSR Ventures is excited to join this journey,” he said.

Prajit Nanu, co-founder of InstaReM says, “This fundraising is significant on multiple counts. GSR has a strong network in China and the US whereas SBI-FMO has a strong base in Japan and emerging markets. Jefferson Chen from GSR Ventures now joins the InstaRem board."

Suramya Gupta, Fund Manager at SBI-FMO Fund, said, "We are excited to partner with the InstaReM team to jointly build the leading regional cross-border digital payments platform. We look forward to plugging InstaReM into our global ecosystem of Fintech and financial service companies.”

In total InstaReM has now raised over $18 million. InstaReM’s global payment infrastructure platform is now becoming the platform of choice for many small and midsized banks, payment processors, corporates and individuals to send money across the border at a fraction of the cost compared to other operators. The fin tech has the capability to now send payments to 50+ countries with a guaranteed destination amount on the same day. Banks, telcos, mobile wallets and MTOs can access InstaReM’s payment infrastructure for a superior service at far lower costs enabling them to compete with global players.

In fact, World Bank has consistently listed InstaReM as one of the most cost-efficient money transfer platforms across many corridors from Austalia and Singapore. InstaReM currently holds 8% market share for users remitting to India from Australia.

By the start of Q4 2017, InstaReM will be available across all markets in Europe and US in addition to Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada.

Speed and service transparency have been the key differentiators for the company. InstaReM has recently re-branded itself to highlight its speed and service transparency through a new logo.

Instarem's initial capital of $500,000 came from Global Founders Capital, followed by $5 million in 2016 lead by Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Temasek, Fullerton Financial Holding and Global Founders Capital.