Global payment solutions provider Flywire has acquired a UK-based competitor, Uni-Pay, in a move the company says means its client base now accounts for 13% of the global international student market.

Overseas money transfer company peerTransfer is rebranding as Flywire and expanding its US and European operations, after seeing its payment volume and revenue double in the last year.

Global payment solutions provider for the education industry, peerTransfer, has raised US$22m in new funding which will be used to support its three-pronged growth strategy of international expansion, new products and new verticals.

US-based online payment platform peerTransfer has this month processed over $1bn in international education payments. After a concerted push for global expansion in 2014, the company recently welcomed its 500th client when it signed up Bournemouth University, home to 2,000 international students.

International education payments firm PeerTransfer has raised US$6.4 million in new funding to help it grow its client base outside the USA. The firm, which halves the exchange rate for international students making tuition and other payments, is used by 350 education institutions worldwide, but 335 are based in the USA spelling room for growth.

Payment transfer firm peerTransfer has launched six new payment methods from China and India that make it easier for international students to pay for tuition fees and other expenses. The firm says that it expects business from both markets to increase through the channels.

US firm peerTransfer says it has become the first money transfer service to allow Chinese students to make direct educational payments overseas in their home currency. The system is open to those studying in the US, Europe, Australia and Canada, who peerTransfer claims could save $100m per year.