airpay secures RBI approval for cross-border payments

By Vriti Gothi

airpay Payment Services has secured regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a cross-border payment aggregator, marking the completion of its authorisations under the central bank’s unified payment aggregator framework. The approval now allows the Mumbai-based company to operate across online, offline and cross-border categories, PA-O, PA-P and PA-CB, placing it among a limited group of full-stack payment aggregators with end-to-end coverage.

The company said the approval will accelerate its scale in both domestic and international payment flows. airpay projects a 30–40% increase in processing volumes over the next six to 12 months and expects cross-border transactions to contribute more than 20 per cent of total revenue during that period. It also plans to onboard more than 50,000 merchants as it expands into enterprise, SME and direct-to-consumer segments.

“Indian business growth is no longer domestic-only. Our exporters, SaaS firms, digital merchants and local retailers are all engaging globally, and they need reliability, compliance and speed in payments,” said Kunal Jhunjhunwala, Founder of airpay Payment Services, noting that RBI’s approval strengthens the firm’s ability to support this demand “responsibly and at scale.”

The RBI’s cross-border payment aggregator framework brings international payment facilitation under direct regulatory oversight, with emphasis on governance standards, escrow norms and adherence to foreign-exchange rules. Industry observers note that such requirements reduce compliance burden for merchants, improve settlement visibility and help mitigate risks associated with cross-border flows.

The approval comes at a time when Indian companies are increasingly targeting global markets. Export-focused MSMEs, subscription-based service providers and D2C businesses have expanded their presence across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and cross-border eCommerce volumes have continued to rise.

As regulatory frameworks tighten and transaction flows diversify, payment intermediaries are being assessed on compliance assurance, operational reliability and infrastructure depth. With its latest authorisation, airpay becomes positioned to offer a single regulated platform for collections, payouts and settlements across physical and digital channels as businesses scale both within India and internationally.