Working To Make Cross-Border Payments More Efficient: RBI Guv

SUMMARY

Malhotra said that there was a need to address challenges such as high cost, slow speed, and insufficient access and transparency in cross border payments

He also noted that RBI plans to continue expanding the reach of UPI “bilaterally” by linking the payments infrastructure with fast payment systems of other nations

The RBI Governor also said that the central bank will continue working on promoting innovation via soft-touch regulations and raising awareness of digital payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Sanjay Malhotra on Monday (March 10) said that the central bank is working to make cross-border payments “more efficient”.

Addressing the Digital Payments Awareness Week 2025 in Mumbai, Malhotra said that there was a need to address challenges such as high cost, slow speed and insufficient access and transparency in cross border payments.

He also noted that the RBI plans to continue expanding the reach of unified payments interface (UPI) “bilaterally” by linking the payments infrastructure with fast payment systems of other nations.

“… We will continue to expand the reach of UPI bilaterally by linking UPI with fast payment systems of other countries. We will also explore the possibility of linking payment systems other than UPI for facilitating efficient cross-border payments. We will continue our engagement in a multilateral project called Project Nexus, to enable instant cross-border retail payments,” added Malhotra.

For context, Project Nexus has been conceptualised by RBI’s Innovation Hub and aims to connect the fast payment systems of five ASEAN countries namely Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and India.

Noting that the “revolution” in India’s payment systems was “far from over”, Malhotra said that the RBI, going forward, will continue working on promoting innovation via soft-touch regulations and raising awareness of digital payments.

“… We will continue to encourage innovation in payments, as also generally, while being mindful of risks and taking appropriate measures to mitigate them. We will promote innovation to facilitate payment systems that are fast, safe, secure, accessible and resilient. We have adopted a soft-touch approach to regulating the payments ecosystem and fintech,” added Malhotra.

He also reiterated that the central bank’s approach so far has been to “put in place regulatory guardrails within which all stakeholders are free to operate”, adding that the RBI will continue to encourage innovation while promoting safety and security through soft-touch regulations.

He also underscored the need for identifying geographies and population segments still lagging behind in usage and awareness of digital payments, adding that suitable steps need to be taken to expand awareness and improve usage.

“I urge the banks, payment system operators and other stakeholders to contribute in their own innovative ways to take forward the mission of Har Payment Digital (every payment digital),” added the RBI governor.

This comes a week after the RBI governor met representatives of fintech startups and other industry stakeholders and called on them to comply with existing laws while fostering innovation.

His comments come at a time when the Indian cross-border payments space is witnessing healthy action on the back of growing adoption. Earlier this year, Skydo received RBI’s approval to operate as Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) entity.

Owing to this, homegrown cross-border payments startups are seeing healthy investor interest. Last month, fintech platform HiWiPay bagged $2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures. In the same month, B2B fintech startup Cashfree raised $53 Mn in its Series C funding round led by South Korean gaming giant KRAFTON to shore up cross-border payment offerings.