Cross-border payments platform HiWiPay has received in-principle approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to set up a wholly owned payment service provider (PSP) subsidiary at GIFT City, strengthening its ambitions in the fast-growing global payments business.
The proposed entity will build regulated cross-border payment infrastructure from India’s international financial centre, catering to exporters, freelancers, SaaS companies, e-commerce businesses, global service providers and other customers engaged in international commerce. The company said it will begin operations after fulfilling regulatory requirements and obtaining final authorisation from IFSCA.
Once operational, the PSP will offer a range of services including cross-border money transfers, merchant acquisition, account issuance, e-money issuance and escrow services. It also plans to provide international collections, global payouts, foreign exchange treasury management and escrow-based transaction solutions.
The approval comes as GIFT IFSC continues to emerge as a hub for cross-border financial services under a dedicated regulatory framework. According to IFSCA data, seven payment service providers are already registered at GIFT IFSC — Betafront Financial Services IFSC Pvt Ltd, Bharat FinOps IFSC Pvt Ltd, Decfin Fintech Services IFSC Pvt Ltd, Glomo Payments IFSC Pvt Ltd, INDmoney Payments IFSC Pvt Ltd, Interpolitan Money IFSC Pvt Ltd and Zincmoney PSP IFSC Pvt Ltd. HiWiPay’s proposed entity will join this ecosystem after receiving final regulatory approval.
“Receiving in-principle approval from IFSCA is a significant milestone for HiWiPay and an important step towards our vision of building a globally connected payments platform from GIFT IFSC,” stated Geeta Chauhan, co-founder of HiWiPay in an official release. “As Indian businesses increasingly participate in international trade and digital commerce, the need for seamless cross-border payment infrastructure has never been greater. Our goal is to simplify global transactions and help businesses scale internationally with confidence,” she added.
Founded by payments industry veterans Dewang Neralla and Geeta Chauhan, HiWiPay is led by the team that helped build Atom Technologies, one of India’s early digital payments companies, which was subsequently acquired by NTT Data. The company said it aims to address persistent challenges faced by Indian exporters and global-facing businesses, including delays in international collections, foreign exchange management, settlement timelines and compliance, through a technology-led payments platform designed to make cross-border transactions faster, more transparent and operationally efficient.