Hyderabad: Wise has launched its multi-currency travel card in India, entering the market just as the country records its highest-ever outbound travel figures and heads into peak international travel season. India's outbound travel surged to a record 3.89 crore departures in 2024, driven by leisure travel (42.5 per cent), diaspora visits (34.7 per cent) and business trips (14.9 per cent). Spending has jumped even more dramatically – prior to FY22, Indians spent roughly $3-4 billion annually on overseas holidays according to data from the LRS, but over the last two years, this has shot up to an average of $17 billion.

Despite this travel boom, Indians continue losing substantial amounts to non-transparent markups applied on the exchange rate by traditional forex providers. Banks and travel companies have long dominated India's forex card market, with most providers adding 2-4 per cent margins to currency conversions – costs that are rarely made explicit to customers. On a Rs2 lakh foreign currency conversion, these hidden markups can cost travellers Rs4,000-Rs8,000 extra compared to the mid-market rate.