According to reports, Bengaluru-based payment aggregator Cashfree receives the licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate in the cross-border payments space.

This follows CashFree's receipt of a payment aggregator license from the Central Bank in December 2023, allowing it to operate in the online merchant payments sector.

With the Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) licence, we are now well-positioned to support global businesses and globally regulated entities collecting payments in India. The licence also enables us to offer Indian exporters and freelancers cross-border payment solutions.

Last October, RBI had asked payment aggregators offering cross-border payments to obtain a separate license. For nearly a decade prior to that, payment companies had been operating in this space under an Online Payment Gateway Service Provider (OPGSP) license.

The cross-border payment business is a major business opportunity in India due to the huge amount of remittances sent to India annually. India is also a hub for freelancers and software and services companies, serving many businesses around the world. Now, non-bank payment companies can offer their services to these businesses.

As per reports, remittances will grow 4 percent to reach $129 billion by 2025. The RBI is also working with other Asian economies to make retail cross-border payments efficient, faster, and more cost-effective through Project Nexus.

Service standards from Indian banks are not that great and few of the global companies are very expensive. So fintechs can disrupt this sector with competitive pricing and better services, as per reports.