Cross-Border Payments - Regulations and Business Use Cases for a Growing Digital Economy

In this episode of PayTech Bytes, Usha Shankar, Vice President of Cross-Border Solutions at Worldline, sheds light on the evolving cross-border payments ecosystem, new regulations, and key business use cases.

Usha begins by explaining the Payment Aggregator Cross-Border (PACB) license, which replaces earlier frameworks like OPGSP (Online Payment Gateway Service Provider) and RDA (Rupee Direct Agreement). This license introduces more stringent regulatory guidelines aimed at enhancing security, transparency, and fraud prevention in international transactions. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates adherence to frameworks such as merchant onboarding, customer due diligence, risk management, and authorized dealer bank partnerships within a specified timeframe.

New requirements include maintaining separate Import Collection Accounts (ICA) and Export Collection Accounts (ECA), ensuring payments are routed transparently for both imports and exports. Exporters must also comply with additional checks for high-value transactions and avoid restricted goods and services. These measures are designed to streamline cross-border payments and safeguard financial flows.

Usha highlights three primary business use cases:

1. Cross-Border Local Settlements: Large enterprise merchants with a presence in India must settle transactions locally in INR as per RBI regulations.
2. Imports: Indian buyers can pay INR using alternate payment methods (APMs), while merchants receive settlements in their preferred currency abroad.
3. Exports: Indian merchants selling globally can receive payments in INR, while international buyers pay in their local currency.

Worldline, as Europe’s largest payment gateway, enables settlements in over 150 currencies, empowering businesses to expand globally while adhering to compliance standards.

Usha concludes by predicting that India’s growing economy and marketplace will simplify and evolve the cross-border payment ecosystem over the next five years, making seamless digital transactions the norm.

Listen to the Podcast here - Cross-Border Payments

We hope you found these insights into balancing innovation and compliance insightful. Stay tuned for the next episode of PayTech Bytes, and feel free to reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠marketing.worldlineindia@worldline.com for any questions or collaboration opportunities