An interview with Aditya Mhatre, Co-Founder & CPTO of Beacon, a pioneering fintech company dedicated to transforming the new immigrant experience in Canada
In this exclusive interview, we speak with Aditya Mhatre, Co-Founder and CPTO of Beacon, a groundbreaking fintech company.
Aditya shares his insights on transforming the immigrant experience in Canada, discussing the challenges faced by newcomers and how Beacon is innovating to empower them financially.
What financial hurdles do NRIs and immigrants commonly face when managing wealth across borders?
Aditya Mhatre: NRIs and immigrants often struggle with regulatory fragmentation, such as maintaining compliance with India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) while adhering to residency-based tax laws abroad.
Currency conversion inefficiencies make these challenges even, with traditional banks charging 3-5% fees per transaction, eroding remitted amounts.
Beacon’s Super App addresses these hurdles by integrating FEMA-compliant CAD-to-INR transfers through partnerships with YES Bank, enabling users to manage Indian expenses directly from Canadian accounts without maintaining NRO/NRE accounts.
This eliminates manual documentation and reduces transaction costs significantly, ensuring seamless cross-border financial management.
Discuss the most common financial mistakes that newcomers make when moving abroad, and how can they be avoided?
Aditya Mhatre: Newcomers frequently underestimate the cost of living and rely on high-fee remittance channels, sometimes incurring losses as high as 6-7% per transfer. Retaining resident Indian bank accounts post-relocation violates FEMA guidelines, risking hefty penalties on transactions.
Beacon’s Super App mitigates these risks through its India Bill Pay feature, which automates utility, loan, and education fee payments in India using CAD funds, avoiding the need for retained accounts.
Our app’s pre-migration budgeting tools help users allocate funds for initial expenses like temporary housing, reducing liquidity crunches. Furthermore, real-time currency conversion at mid-market rates minimizes losses from volatile exchange rates.
How has the evolution of fintech, including UPI, mobile wallets, and instant bank transfers, revolutionized remittances for NRIs?
Aditya Mhatre: Fintech advancements have undoubtedly streamlined remittances. Beacon’s Super App leverages this infrastructure through partnerships with Bharat connect and Yes Bank for India BillPay, enabling NRIs in Canada to settle bills for over 21,000 Indian providers instantly.
While traditional money transfer methods involving NEFT/IMPS take 2 to 3 days, Beacon processes transactions in under 30 minutes using YES Bank’s Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA).
The Super App’s Beacon Money wallet further simplifies cross-border liquidity management, allowing users to preload funds in India and debit them in Canada via Visa-powered prepaid cards, bypassing SWIFT delays.
How can technological advancements bridge the financial gap and improve the financial experience for global users?
Aditya Mhatre: Technological innovations like AI-driven bill management and blockchain settlements are reducing operational friction. Our Super App uses web scraping to auto-fetch due amounts from Indian billers, sending SMS reminders to prevent missed payments.
The platform’s integration with YES Bank ensures FEMA compliance for every transaction, eliminating manual documentation.
For newcomers, Beacon offers pre-arrival onboarding using digital KYC via passport scans, activating Canadian accounts before relocation – a process that traditionally requires physical branch visits. These features cut onboarding time from weeks to minutes while ensuring adherence to RBI guidelines.
Elaborate on the new fintech innovations and trends that will shape the future of cross-border wealth management.
Aditya Mhatre: The next decade will be transformative. AI will predict currency swings, automating transfers at optimal rates. Blockchain could turn compliance from a headache into a seamless process.
Also, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) might replace outdated systems like SWIFT, making cross-border transactions as easy as sending a text. For us at Beacon, the goal is clear: merge these innovations into tools that feel intuitive, not intimidating.
How do digital platforms like Beacon help NRIs relocating to Canada manage their expenses in India?
Aditya Mhatre: Beacon’s India Bill Pay enables NRIs to settle Indian expenses directly from Canadian accounts, covering utilities, loans, and education fees. The feature auto-fetches due amounts from biller websites, ensuring accuracy and eliminating manual entry.
Users receive real-time SMS confirmations, creating audit trails for tax purposes. By bypassing NRO/NRE accounts, Beacon reduces annual costs by approximately $1,200 for average users.
Our app also supports recurring payment scheduling, ensuring timely settlements despite time zone differences, and integrates with YES Bank for compliant currency conversion at nominal fees.
How much money can an NRI send using Beacon’s services, what are the methods, and the conversion rates?
Aditya Mhatre: NRIs can remit up to $1 million annually under RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) using Beacon. Transfers are facilitated through direct bank integrations with Canadian institutions like RBC and TD, leveraging YES Bank’s RDA for CAD-to-INR conversions.
The Beacon Money wallet allows preloading funds from Indian accounts via SWIFT or Beacon Remit, which can be debited for bill payments or card transactions.
Conversion rates align with mid-market values along with markups significantly lower than traditional banks’ 3-5%. Transactions under $10,000 are processed in under 30 minutes, ensuring urgent expenses are covered promptly.
Discuss the future outlook for Beacon and its expansion plans.
Aditya Mhatre: Beacon’s roadmap is ambitious but grounded. Our current focus is on supporting immigrants from India, tailoring services to their unique needs.
We are also planning to expand our offerings, bringing services designed to grow with users as they put down roots in Canada.
We are ambitious in our goal, which is to become the go-to financial companion for immigrants, because starting over shouldn’t mean starting from scratch.
Aditya Mhatre’s vision for Beacon highlights the importance of addressing the unique financial needs of immigrants.
By leveraging technology and user-centric design, Beacon is not only simplifying financial access but also fostering a sense of community.
As the company continues to grow, its impact on newcomers in Canada will undoubtedly resonate for years to come.
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