airpay receives RBI nod for cross-border payment aggregator licence

airpay Payment Services has secured approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a cross-border payment aggregator, completing its authorisations under the unified payment aggregator (PA) framework. With this, the company is licensed to operate across PA-O (online), PA-P (physical/POS/QR) and PA-CB (cross-border) categories.

The approval places airpay among a limited set of regulated entities permitted to facilitate domestic and international payments across major merchant channels. The company said the expanded licence will allow it to serve enterprises, D2C brands and SMEs on a single compliant platform for collections, payouts and settlements.

airpay expects the cross-border capability to support its operational scale, projecting a 30–40% increase in processing volumes over the next 6–12 months. It also anticipates that cross-border flows could contribute over 20% to revenue in the period, alongside the onboarding of more than 50,000 merchants.

“Indian business growth is no longer domestic-only,” said Kunal Jhunjhunwala, Founder of airpay Payment Services. He said the authorisation strengthens the company’s ability to support businesses engaging in global commerce.

RBI’s PA-CB framework brings cross-border payment facilitation under direct regulatory oversight, with requirements relating to governance, escrow management and foreign exchange compliance. According to the company, the structure is expected to reduce settlement risks and simplify compliance for businesses dealing with international transactions.

The approval comes at a time when Indian exporters, digital merchants, SaaS firms and D2C brands are expanding their presence in overseas markets. Cross-border e-commerce volumes have been rising on both import and export fronts, driven by global demand and diversified trade linkages.

Industry observers note that as Indian firms scale across online, offline and global channels, the demand for reliable, regulated payment infrastructure continues to grow. Full-stack payment aggregators with end-to-end compliance capabilities are expected to play a larger role in supporting SMEs and emerging businesses engaged in international trade.

With the addition of the cross-border licence, airpay now holds all three PA authorisations under the current framework.