Wise granted RBI’s in-principle approval to operate as Cross-Border Payment Aggregator
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, June 3, 2025 – Wise (LON: WISE), the global technology company building the best way to move and manage money around the world, has secured in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator (PA)– Cross Border for exports.
This milestone builds on Wise's accelerating momentum in India, where the company powers 10% of all money sent from abroad to India, while also enabling customers to send low-cost and fast transfers from the country. Over the past year, Wise has been doubling down on its local presence through:
Establishing a full-stack office in Hyderabad, appointing APAC Head of Engineering, Smrithi Ravi to lead the new hub, with plans to hire for hundreds of roles over the next few years
Rolling out the highly requested account details feature, enabling freelancers and businesses to get paid from overseas in 8 currencies including USD, GBP and EUR quickly and at the mid-market exchange rate.
Lowering fees and making transactions faster for transfers from India via operating on its own Authorised Dealer 2 (AD-II) licence. For instance, sending ₹1 lakh abroad with Wise costs around 1.5% on average. 70% of transactions from India are sent under 12 hours, much faster than the industry standard of 2-3 business days.
With the new licence, Wise will be able to support higher transaction limits of up to 25 lakh for freelancers and businesses receiving cross-border payments through its international account details feature. The approval also opens the door for Wise to help businesses in India send payments abroad in the future.
SK Saraogi, APAC Head of Expansion, said: “India’s export economy continues to outpace much of the world, driven by a rapidly growing base of small and medium-sized businesses innovating across sectors. However, many of these businesses still face friction when it comes to receiving international payments, including high fees, transaction delays, unfavourable exchange rates and no price transparency. "
“Today’s announcement marks another step forward in our mission to give Indians a faster, cheaper, more transparent alternative for their cross-border payment. This new licence is the latest addition to Wise’s growing suite of solutions in the country, enabling us to support exporters with a fast and cost-effective way to receive payments from customers abroad, helping them retain more earnings and grow their global footprint with confidence,” he added.
