Earthport Cleared For India X-Border Payments

Cross-border payments company Earthport can now fulfill cross-border payments initiated in India.

Reports Thursday (Nov. 3) said the FinTech company received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to provide outbound international payment services to banks in the country. Earthport already provides inbound international payment services to the nation.

“India is amongst the fastest-growing economies in the world and plays a very important role in the cross-border payments ecosystem globally,” said Earthport Chief Executive Hank Uberoi in a statement.

According to reports, RBI’s approval followed a review of Earthport by the Indian Banks Association, which ultimately recommended approval to RBI.

India has emerged as a top destination for FinTech firms providing international payment services. Earlier this year, another company, Uphold, announced a partnership with India’s IDFC Bank to provide inbound cross-border payments to India customers, which RBI similarly had to approve.

“Receiving more than $72 million in 2015, India is the largest remittance country,” said Uphold President and CEO Anthony Watson at the time.

Recent analysis by Let’s Talk Payments, published in July, found that India’s late payments problem is generally larger than the rest of Asia, with international payments making supplier payments even more difficult.

“Merchants in India receive payments on foreign B2B invoices around 63 days after invoicing on average,” the report said. “The average payment duration for the region starts at 61 days for foreign ones.”

Let’s Talk Payments also highlighted India as one of the fastest-growing markets for B2B payments.