UPI's Limitations in Cross-Border Payments

Indian exporters are moving away from traditional bank transfers to faster digital payment platforms, Kunal Talgeri reports for Mint. Earlier, exporters depended on banks using SWIFT for cross-border payments. These transfers often took three to five days and involved unclear forex conversion spreads and processing delays. Firms such as Azul Arc and Purple Cliq Ventures reported delays in receiving payments due to banking processes, including holidays and compliance checks, the report says. To address this, exporters are adopting RBI-approved payment aggregators like Skydo, XFlow, PayGlocal, and others that offer faster settlements, often within 24 hours, and clearer visibility on forex rates. The RBI has also issued guidelines to speed up inward remittances and ensure same-day or next-day credit in many cases. This move comes as India’s export and remittance volumes continue to rise sharply, the report says further. “When we are initiating a transaction through them, we know exactly what forex rate we are going to get it at. We don’t have to wait till the money reaches India. This is a huge value-add because we have pricing predictability and transparency from the beginning,” says Tej Mulgaonkar, Head of Product and Technology at Drip Capital. Fintech platforms also use virtual accounts to collect payments locally before transferring them to India. This improves visibility and reduces delays for exporters, adds the report. Will fintech platforms permanently replace banks in cross-border payments? Share your thoughts in the comments section. Source: https://lnkd.in/gV4gUiGb ✍ Dhritiman Deb 📸 Getty Images #IndianExports #DigitalPayments #FintechIndia #CrossBorderPayments

⚡ FINTECH FLASH Friday, April 24 A fintech just got a seat at the RBI’s table. That’s never happened before. Pay Point India has become the first private fintech to gain direct membership in the RBI’s Centralised Payment System — accessing RTGS and NEFT directly, without a partner bank. They now have their own IFSC code and settlement accounts with the RBI itself. Until now, that club was banks-only. What this means: No more depending on a bank to process your transactions. Faster settlement. Lower costs. And most importantly fintechs are no longer tenants in someone else’s infrastructure. They can own the rails. This is a structural shift, not just a regulatory win. 💬 Should more fintechs get direct RBI access or does putting non-banks this deep into core infrastructure make the system riskier? #FintechFlash #IndianFintech #Fintech #PaymentsIndia #NehaOnFintech

🌐 RBI is rewiring India's cross-border payments — and banks are scrambling to keep up. For decades, Indian exporters depended on large banks for forex remittances. That's changing — fast. With its April 2025 circular, RBI introduced PA-CBs (Payment Aggregators for Cross-Border) — a new regulated category enabling non-bank fintechs to handle inward & outward remittances end-to-end. What's shifting: ▪ Payments that took 3–4 business days now settle in under 24 hours ▪ India's inward remittances hit $135 Billion in FY25 — a record, up 14% YoY ▪ Goods & services exports crossed $860 Billion in FY25 ▪ 11,500+ banks & financial institutions now on the SWIFT network Players like XFlow, PayGlocal, Skydo & Easebuzz are now giving India's largest banks a run for their money — offering real-time FX rates, same-business-day credits, and transparent pricing that MSMEs and exporters desperately needed. The RBI's push for speed, transparency & inclusion of non-bank platforms is the real game-changer here. India's $216 Billion IT services export industry is watching closely. So should every BFSI professional. The cross-border payments pie is growing. #CrossBorderPayments #RBI #PaymentAggregators #SWIFT #IndiaFintech #BFSI #Exports #Remittances #DigitalPayments #Fintech #MSMEFinance #ForexManagement #PaymentsInnovation #IndiaGrowth #XFlow #PayGlocal #Skydo #Easebuzz #FEMA #RBIRegulation #GlobalPayments #ExportFinance #FinancialInclusion #BankingTechnology #IndiaExports #FintechIndia #PayTech #B2BPayments #TradeFinance #OpenBanking

RBI and NBFC Regulatory Developments in Fintech In an exclusive interaction with #FinanceOutlookIndia, Shams Tabrej, Co-Founder & CEO of Ezeepay, shares his insights on how evolving RBI and NBFC regulations are reshaping India’s fintech landscape, particularly in driving sustainable financial inclusion. Drawing on his deep experience in banking, digital payments, and last-mile financial delivery, he highlights that the sector is entering a consolidation phase where compliance, governance, and trust will drive sustainable growth. Read More: https://lnkd.in/g9TxcJFW #Indiasfintechlandscape #fintechsector #sustainablegrowth #hybrideconomy #sustainablestrategies #digitaleconomy #riskmanagement #fintechecosystem

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is no longer just regulating entities—it’s reshaping how fintechs design products, partnerships, and risk frameworks. Customer protection is now taking centre stage, even if it comes at the cost of speed and convenience. The era of “growth at all costs” is giving way to “compliance-first fintech.” #Fintech #RBI #UPI #DigitalPayments #Regulation #Payments #Lending

The real reason Indian exporters trust us has nothing to do with our FX rates. Building payments infrastructure is slow. Painfully slow. Licenses, banking partnerships, compliance frameworks, regulatory approvals. Months of work that your customer never sees. For an Indian exporter, a payment isn't just a transaction. It's his salary. His employees' salaries. Money he's reinvesting back into his business. One missed payment. One delay. One error. And you've lost that customer's trust forever. That's why infrastructure isn't optional in this space. It's the product. The exporters using Infinity aren't just paying for a better FX rate. They're trusting us with their livelihood. That weight never leaves you as a founder. But it's also why we spend months building things customers never see. The license. The banking partner. The compliance layer. Because when it works seamlessly and reliably every single time, that's when trust compounds. And in payments, trust is the only moat that matters.

Indian exporters are moving away from traditional bank transfers and toward faster digital payment platforms. Exporters used to have to rely on banks that used SWIFT for payments across borders. These transfers usually took three to five days and had forex conversion spreads that weren't clear and processing delays. Exporters are using RBI-approved payment aggregators to solve this problem. These services offer faster settlements, usually within 24 hours, and clearer information about forex rates. The RBI has also given instructions to speed up inward remittances and make sure that many of them are credited on the same day or the next day. The report goes on to say that this move comes as India's exports and remittances keep going up quickly. As a fintech product evangelist, I have realised that this shift highlights how fintech is solving real pain points like speed, transparency, and predictability. While banks may not disappear, collaboration between banks and fintech seems like the future of cross-border payments. Fintech platforms also use virtual accounts to collect payments in the US and then send them to India. The report says this makes things more visible and speeds things up for exporters. Will fintech platforms always take the place of banks for cross-border payments? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Digital isn’t the future anymore; it’s the default. From everyday taps to premium swipes, India’s payment landscape has fundamentally changed. Discover how in the India Digital Payments Report CY 2025 in Review ➡️ https://bit.ly/4sStjpj #DigitalPayments #Fintech #PaymentsInnovation #DigitalIndia

From Queues to QR Codes: India’s Payment Revolution: Faster, simpler and more inclusive transactions for every Indian India’s financial journey has evolved over centuries from barter systems and cowrie shells to coins, paper currency, and cheques. For much of its modern history, cash remained the dominant mode of transaction. While cheques and demand drafts formalised payments, they were slow and accessible only to a limited segment. Banking infrastructure was largely urban-centric, leaving rural and remote populations underserved. https://lnkd.in/gXc8vgpq Indian Ministry of Finance Digital India Corporation Reserve Bank of India (RBI) UPI National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI) ERNET India,Education and Research Network of India, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Govt. of India #Digitalpayment #QRCodes #Payment 

Fintech Growth Spotlight India continues to strengthen its position as a global leader in fintech innovation. With the rapid growth of digital payments like UPI, the country is setting benchmarks in real-time transactions. Government initiatives and increasing digital adoption are supporting this growth, making fintech one of the fastest-growing sectors in India. #Fintech #DigitalIndia #UPI #Innovation #Finance #Banking #Stockmarket #Inflation #Economy #Nifty50 #Sensex #Nasdaq #IMPS