Razorpay Gets RBI Approval To Offer Cross-Border Payments
- ByStartupStory | December 2, 2025
PA-CB License Enables 130+ Currency Collections And Global Merchant Onboarding
India’s leading fintech Razorpay has secured the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) license, authorizing it to facilitate both inward and outward cross-border transactions under full regulatory oversight. The approval positions Razorpay among an elite group of non-bank players handling international payments, supporting exporters, SaaS firms, freelancers, D2C brands, and global platforms entering India.
Dual-Sided Platform For Global Commerce
Razorpay International Payments now enables Indian businesses to accept payments in over 130 currencies via cards, wallets, and local bank transfers, boasting optimized flows with 95% success rates. On the inbound side, overseas merchants activate India operations instantly—without local entities—offering UPI, RuPay, EMIs, netbanking, and 100+ local methods through single integration, complete with INR pricing, OTP checkout, and India-based support.
Global brands like Airbnb, Agoda, Klook, Shopify, and Hostinger already rely on Razorpay, with cross-border revenue growing 40% year-over-year. Managing Director Shashank Kumar emphasized: “We’re building money-movement rails for global-first businesses, simplifying New York-to-Mumbai payments.”
Regulatory Milestone Ahead Of IPO
The PA-CB license demands stringent compliance: net-worth thresholds, segregated AD-bank accounts for import/export flows, KYC/AML monitoring, FEMA adherence, and audits. Razorpay’s FY25 revenue hit ₹3,783 crore (up 65% YoY) with ₹1,277 crore gross profit, despite ₹1,209 crore post-ESOP losses from U.S.-India redomiciling.
Post-approval, Razorpay accelerates global scaling amid India’s $1 trillion digital exports ambition. The license reinforces its infrastructure dominance—processing billions monthly—while navigating RBI’s fintech scrutiny post-Paytm.
Strategic Timing In Booming Cross-Border Market
India’s cross-border payments market exceeds $100 billion annually, fueled by 50 million freelancers and $200 billion SaaS potential. Razorpay’s end-to-end stack—payments, compliance, treasury—delivers 2-3x faster settlements versus legacy systems.
Competitors like PhonePe and PayU chase similar licenses, but Razorpay leads non-banks. Pre-IPO momentum builds: $741 million raised from Lightspeed, Tiger Global, Sequoia, Ribbit.
This RBI nod cements Razorpay as India’s cross-border payments champion, empowering 10 million+ merchants to thrive globally while foreign platforms tap 1.4 billion consumers seamlessly.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
