PayGlocal, the Indian cross-border payments company, has received in-principle approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to establish a wholly owned subsidiary as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) in GIFT-IFSC, the international financial services centre at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, according to a report by Entrackr on Wednesday, September 23.
The approval covers account issuance — including e-money accounts — cross-border money transfers and merchant acquisition. Together, those activities would give PayGlocal a regulated base from which to serve businesses that operate across multiple markets.
The move adds another layer to a regulatory footprint that PayGlocal has been building steadily. Last year, the company received final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator – Cross Border (PA-CB) for inward and outward transactions. It has also begun expanding into the US following its registration as a Money Services Business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Who PayGlocal serves
Founded in 2021 by Prachi Dharani, Rohit Sukhija and Yogesh Lokhande, PayGlocal enables Indian and global businesses to accept payments across markets. It serves merchants in sectors including exports, retail, travel, education and software-as-a-service, and supports payments in more than 130 currencies and over 40 global and local payment methods, according to Entrackr.
The company is backed by Tiger Global, Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India) and BEENEXT.
Why GIFT City matters
GIFT-IFSC was designed to give India an onshore international financial centre that can compete with hubs such as Singapore and Dubai. Entities operating there are regulated by a single authority, IFSCA, and can conduct business in foreign currencies under a framework distinct from the domestic financial system.
For payments companies, that structure is attractive. A PSP licensed in GIFT-IFSC can serve international customers and facilitate cross-border flows under rules designed for global business, while remaining physically and legally based in India. IFSCA’s payment services regulations, introduced in 2024, created a comprehensive framework for such entities, covering authorisation, capital, risk management and operational requirements.
The in-principle approval is an intermediate step. Applicants must satisfy additional conditions — including compliance, documentation and operational readiness — before receiving a final certificate of authorisation. Under the regulations, a PSP must typically begin operations within six months of receiving its authorisation.
A growing cohort
PayGlocal is not the first Indian fintech to pursue this route. In 2024, IFSCA granted in-principle approval to Betafront Tech, Zinc Money and GlomoPay to establish wholly owned subsidiaries as PSPs in GIFT-IFSC, Entrackr noted. Listed payments company Infibeam Avenues received a similar in-principle approval for its subsidiary in October 2025, according to Business Standard.
That growing cohort suggests that GIFT-IFSC is emerging as a practical international base for Indian fintech companies seeking to expand their payment offerings globally — a role policymakers have long envisaged for the centre.
The economics of cross-border payments
Cross-border payments remain one of the most expensive and complex areas of global finance. Businesses selling internationally face foreign-exchange costs, settlement delays, compliance checks and a patchwork of payment methods that vary by country. Indian exporters — from software companies to manufacturers and small online sellers — have historically found it difficult to accept international payments efficiently.
Companies such as PayGlocal aim to address that friction by providing a single platform through which merchants can accept payments in multiple currencies and methods, convert funds and settle to their accounts. E-money accounts and merchant acquiring in GIFT-IFSC could allow PayGlocal to hold, manage and move funds for business customers in ways that are difficult under purely domestic licences.
A multi-jurisdiction strategy
PayGlocal’s regulatory approach reflects a broader truth about cross-border payments: licences are a competitive moat. Each approval — whether from the RBI, FinCEN or IFSCA — requires significant investment in compliance, governance and risk management, and takes time to obtain. Once secured, these licences allow a company to offer services that competitors without equivalent approvals cannot.
By combining an RBI cross-border aggregator licence, US money-services registration and a prospective GIFT-IFSC PSP licence, PayGlocal is assembling a stack that could allow it to serve businesses moving money between India, the US and other international markets through regulated channels at each end.
Women in fintech leadership
PayGlocal is also one of a relatively small number of Indian fintech companies with a woman co-founder. Prachi Dharani’s role in building a regulated, multi-jurisdiction payments company stands out in a sector where women remain underrepresented among founders and senior executives.
What to watch
Several milestones will indicate how quickly PayGlocal can capitalise on the approval. These include the issuance of a final IFSCA licence, the specific services the GIFT-IFSC subsidiary launches with, the banking partners it works with and the payment corridors it prioritises.
Merchant wins will also be important. Exporters, SaaS companies, travel businesses, education providers and global marketplaces are natural customers for a cross-border platform, and evidence of adoption among those segments would validate the strategy.
Competition is intense. Global payments companies, Indian fintech rivals and banks all compete for cross-border business, and pricing pressure is significant. PayGlocal’s ability to differentiate on coverage, speed, cost and compliance will determine how much market share it can capture.
The bigger picture
India’s ambition to become a global hub for financial services depends in part on whether its own fintech companies can build internationally competitive businesses. The country has already demonstrated its capabilities in domestic digital payments through the Unified Payments Interface. Extending that success to cross-border payments is a more complex challenge, involving multiple regulators, currencies and banking systems.
PayGlocal’s approval is a small but meaningful step in that direction. It shows how Indian fintechs can use GIFT-IFSC as a regulated launchpad for global services, and how a combination of domestic and international licences can position an Indian company to compete for a share of one of the largest and most lucrative markets in financial services.
For Indian exporters and globally minded businesses, the development could eventually mean more choice and potentially lower costs when accepting payments from customers around the world. For the fintech sector, it is another signal that India’s payments innovation is increasingly looking beyond national borders.
