India’s digital payments revolution has become a global benchmark. UPI has fundamentally transformed how individuals and businesses transact. Yet, while domestic payments have undergone a remarkable transformation, cross-border payments continue to operate on infrastructure that often feels slow, fragmented, and expensive.
This gap represents one of the most significant opportunities in financial services today.
Whether it is a student paying tuition fees overseas, a traveller managing expenses abroad, a family sending remittances, an exporter receiving overseas payments, or an MSME settling international invoices – customers today expect the same convenience from cross-border transactions.
The challenge is that international payments continue to be constrained by fragmented networks, multiple intermediaries, compliance-intensive processes and limited visibility into transaction flows. While these frictions have long been accepted as the cost of operating in a global financial system, regulators and market participants are increasingly questioning whether they remain justified in an era of real-time payments.
The Reserve Bank of India’s recent guidelines on cross-border payments encourage near real-time reconciliation of foreign currency accounts, faster crediting of incoming funds, enhanced customer notifications and greater adoption of straight-through processing. The revised FEMA Regulations, 2026, expand permissible activities for AD II entities, including foreign trade transactions up to ₹25 lakh per transaction, improving access for SMEs engaged in international commerce. Equally significant is the introduction of the Forex Correspondent Scheme, which enables regulated entities to make forex services accessible through authorised partners and opens up the area for fintech innovation.
Viewed narrowly, the circular introduces operational measures such as faster beneficiary notifications, more frequent reconciliation of nostro accounts, greater use of straight-through processing and quicker crediting of funds. When viewed strategically, it signals an attempt to redesign the customer experience without compromising integrity and a recognition it is becoming an increasingly important pillar of India’s economy.
Why are cross-border payments the next fintech battleground?
Fintech innovations in the payments space have been centred on domestic payments. The opportunity was clear – digitise transactions, increase financial inclusion, and reduce friction in everyday commerce. Today, domestic payment infrastructure has largely matured.
Fintechs are therefore looking for the next frontier where technology can solve persistent inefficiencies and cross-border payments fit that description. International payments still involve multiple institutions, forex conversions, compliance checks and varying regulatory requirements across jurisdictions.
Three powerful forces are driving the opportunity – a rapidly expanding market, unresolved pain points and a regulatory environment that is increasingly supportive of efficiency and digitisation. The next phase of fintech competition will not be about who can move money. It will be about who can make international payments simpler, faster and more transparent.
Meanwhile, India continues to be one of the world’s largest recipients of remittances. Services exports are growing steadily, students are pursuing education abroad in record numbers and international travel is becoming mainstream. At the same time, a growing number of Indian MSMEs are participating in global commerce through digital marketplaces and international trade networks.
However, many customers continue to face challenges such as delayed settlements, cumbersome documentation requirements, and uncertainty around costs. For businesses, these inefficiencies can directly affect cash flows, supplier relationships, and working capital management.
Additionally, the recent FEMA guidelines are creating a favourable environment for fintech innovation in areas of digital onboarding, automated compliance, transaction monitoring, payment tracking and forex management.
The new competitive edge is customer experience
Competition in cross-border payments revolved around forex rates and transaction fees. However, customers now want visibility, predictability and control. They want to know where their money is, when it will arrive and what it will cost. This is where technology becomes a key differentiator, and AI/ML, data analytics and API-driven infrastructure are helping payment providers automate compliance checks, improve transaction monitoring and deliver more personalized experiences. The focus is shifting from processing transactions to managing the entire payment journey.
The winners in this market will be those that can combine technological sophistication with deep regulatory expertise.
The way forward
The domestic payments revolution has demonstrated what is possible when policy and technology converge. Today, similar forces are beginning to reshape international payments. Regulatory reforms are driving efficiency, customer expectations are rising, and India’s growing integration with the global economy is creating unprecedented demand for seamless cross-border transactions.
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The opportunity ahead is not simply to make cross-border payments faster. It is to make them more transparent, accessible, and customer-centric. As new payment rails emerge, ranging from traditional banking networks and global card schemes to stablecoin and blockchain-based infrastructure, the institutions that succeed will be those that deliver trust and control throughout the payment journey regardless of the underlying payment mechanism. That is why cross-border payments are emerging as the next fintech battleground. The winners will not necessarily be those that move money the fastest, but can combine innovation with regulatory excellence to power the future of global money movement.
Views expressed by: Srikrishna Narasimhan, CEO & Whole-Time Director, GlobalPay
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