Airpay Payment Services has secured approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a cross-border payment aggregator, completing its licences under the unified Payment Aggregator ¶ framework.
This approval lets Airpay handle online, physical (POS/QR) and international payment flows — meaning Indian businesses can now use Airpay to collect and settle payments both domestically and from overseas buyers.
What This RBI Licence Means
- Cross-Border Payments Licence: Airpay can now legally process payments that involve foreign buyers and sellers, helping Indian merchants sell globally with regulated settlement.
- Unified Payment Stack: The approval completes Airpay’s licences under RBI’s PA framework (PA-O for online, PA-P for physical, and PA-CB for cross-border).
- Boost for Indian Businesses: Exporters, SaaS firms, D2C brands, ecommerce sellers and SMEs can now tap a regulated partner to manage cross-border collections and payouts.
- Growth Expectations: Airpay projects a 30-40% increase in processing volumes over the next 6–12 months, with more than 20%+ revenue from cross-border flows and plans to onboard 50,000+ merchants.
Why It Matters Now
- As Indian companies expand globally, the need for compliant, reliable cross-border payment rails is rising — especially for exports, subscriptions, digital services and international ecommerce.
- RBI’s dedicated PA-CB framework brings foreign exchange, escrow and compliance requirements under strict oversight — reducing risks for users and businesses compared with unregulated alternatives.
- Airpay joins a select group of players (like Razorpay, PayU and Pine Labs) who have full-stack capabilities covering online, offline and international payments under one roof.