From legacy rails to intelligent payments: Interview with Prachi Dharani, Co-founder & CEO, PayGlocal

By Puja Sharma

Exporters continue to struggle with legacy payment inefficiencies, including unpredictable settlements, hidden foreign exchange markups, and compliance-heavy paperwork that consumes time and cash flow. FinTechs are stepping in with compliance-by-design, AI-driven fraud prevention, and local payment method integration to smooth cross-border commerce. For India’s MSMEs and freelancers, this means plug-and-play access to virtual accounts, automated documentation, and faster INR settlements.

In conversation with Prachi Dharani, Co-founder & CEO of PayGlocal, IBS Intelligence explored how the company is shaping India’s export infrastructure. With an RBI PA/PG license, multi-currency support, and embedded compliance, PayGlocal is enabling businesses across sectors to scale globally. By fusing global rails with AI-driven risk checks, it delivers seamless, compliant, and growth-ready cross-border payment experiences.

What are the biggest pain points exporters still face in cross-border payments?

Exporters still contend with the inefficiencies of legacy payment rails. Exporters report unpredictable settlement times, opaque fees and insufficient visibility in cross-border transfers gbm.scotiabank.com. In practice, this means slow incoming funds, hidden FX markups, and traditional banking rails posing delays that squeeze cash flow. On top of that, Indian exporters wrestle with compliance paperwork – e.g. FIRAs, eBRCs, EDPMS and purpose‐code filings – which adds complexity for small teams. In short, a fragmented system with siloed platforms and limited real-time visibility forces exporters to spend time on several manual fixes instead of growth.

How can compliance and innovation coexist as regulations tighten globally?

Regulatory tightening has pushed FinTechs to bake compliance into their products. In practice, India-focused innovators embed RBI rules (FIRA/EDPMS reporting, KYC/AML checks, sanction screening) directly into payment flows. Global initiatives echo this approach – for example, BIS’s Project Mandala advocates “compliance-by-design” for cross-border transfers. Partnerships and sandboxes help too. PayGlocal’s platform, for instance, combines licensed local rails and AI-driven monitoring so exporters “move money quickly, compliantly, and without friction”. The result: real-time risk checks and automated documentation allow businesses to scale internationally securely. Innovation thus works with regulation, not against it.

Why are alternative payment methods becoming critical for exporters’ growth?

Offering local payment methods is now mission-critical for exporters. These local payment methods are no longer considered “alternative.” Case in point – UPI. Cross-border buyers overwhelmingly expect to pay with the options they know. In fact, 99% of cross-border shoppers insist on their preferred local payment (digital wallets, local cards, A2A transfer, BNPL, etc.). Digital payment adoption is surging – roughly two-thirds of global eCommerce was via “alternative” methods in 2024  – and is forecast to rise further. The payoff is huge: merchants report a 72% higher failure rate on cross-border orders, so broadening payment options directly improves approval and conversion rates. In short, supporting multiple local methods and currencies unlocks new markets and makes exporters far more competitive globally.

How is AI reshaping fraud prevention and approval rates in global payments?

Network rules expect merchants to keep their FTS and CTS below a certain threshold of their volume. Merchants are not equipped to monitor these and need a payments partner who handles this for them. AI and machine learning are revolutionising payment security. By analysing thousands of signals (device, location, behavior, transaction history) in real time, AI systems catch suspicious patterns that fixed-rule engines miss. For example, Mastercard reports that its AI system cuts false declines by ~85% while boosting fraud detection ~20%. SWIFT’s new AI-powered service similarly flags risky cross-border transactions far faster and more accurately than legacy filters. In practice this means more good payments get through (higher approval rates) while bad actors are blocked. Many export-focused FinTechs now embed AI end-to-end – from automated KYC to real-time anomaly scoring – so small businesses benefit from enterprise-grade fraud prevention without manual effort

What role can FinTechs play in powering MSMEs and freelancers in India’s export boom?

FinTech platforms are the growth engine for India’s small exporters and gig sellers. They offer plug-and-play export infrastructure – for example, virtual USD/EUR/GBP accounts- so MSMEs receive payments as if they were “locally,” with funds auto-converted to INR within ~24 hours. Compliance and paperwork become invisible: FinTechs automate export documentation (FIRA, eBRC/EDPMS filings, and GST rematches) and integrate tax/GST reports into a single dashboard. These tools democratise global trade. The results speak volumes: one India-first cross-border FinTech now serves over 25,000 MSMEs, exporters, and freelancers, processing approximately $500 million annually. In short, FinTechs provide Indian SMEs with enterprise-grade cross-border payment rails, real-time FX and financing solutions — all tailored for global commerce without the hassle of global transactions.

How is PayGlocal evolving into core export infrastructure for India?

PayGlocal is rapidly building India’s export-FinTech backbone. Licensed by the Reserve Bank of India as an online Payment Aggregator (PA-PG), and operating as a cross-border payment aggregator, PayGlocal enables over 2,500 businesses across export, retail, travel, education, and SaaS to accept payments in 120+ currencies and 40+ global payment methods. The platform combines intelligent routing, advanced fraud prevention, and 99.99%+ uptime to deliver reliable, compliant, and high-conversion global payment experiences.

It has secured critical licenses (RBI PA/PG aggregator license in Sep ’24) and layered in India-specific compliance (FIRA/EDPMS reporting, sanctions checks) so exporters can plug in without regulatory friction. Its platform combines global rails (via partners like Banking Circle and Currency Cloud) with intelligent routing and AI risk‑scans, delivering >90% transaction success and INR settlements within 24h — far exceeding typical gateway performance. Today PayGlocal serves ~2,500 merchants (MakeMyTrip, D2C brands, SaaS firms, freelancers, etc.), handling $420 million (~₹3,483 Cr)  in TPV. In effect, PayGlocal offers “enterprise-grade” payments and compliance tools as a service. By embedding risk controls directly into payments and scaling with every market expansion (new corridors, FinTech partnerships, and Amazon Global tie-ups), it’s transforming the export sector’s payment infrastructure — truly enabling India’s businesses to transition from local to global.