RBI selects eight entities for second cohort of regulatory sandbox on cross-border payments

Reserve Bank of India (File image)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 13 announced that it has selected eight entities for the second cohort of regulatory sandbox on cross- border payments.

RBI had received 27 applications from 26 entities, of which, only eight have been selected. The entities will be allowed to commence testing of their products from the third week of September, RBI said in a release.

The eight entities and their products are as follows -

1. Book My Forex Private Limited: The product facilitates fully online outward cross-border remittances to bank accounts and debit/ prepaid cards overseas using VISA Direct and Master Card Send via digitisation of the process including digital KYC/ AML verification.

2. Cashfree Payments India: The product facilitates cross-border payment platform to facilitates the purchase of assets listed on foreign exchanges (e.g NASDAQ) like publicly listed shares, exchange-traded funds i.e. ETFs and units of mutual funds, securities by Indian investors via local payment methods.

3. Fariex Solutions: An aggregation platform of leading cross-border payment providers for outward remittance.

4. Flyremit Private Limited: An online outward cross-border remittance platform facilitating digitisation of the remittance process including digital KYC verification.

5.  Nearby Technologies Private Limited: Routing the inward cross-border remittance to the beneficiary’s Aadhaar number as a virtual bank account using existing RDA (Rupee Drawing Arrangement) mechanism.

6. Open Financial Technologies: The product is a Blockchain-based Cross border payment system, leveraging the current infrastructure and ensures frictionless and tamperproof monitoring capabilities.

7. SoCash India Private Limited: Sandbox product is primarily aimed at inbound and outbound tourists to/from India to facilitate cross-border retail merchant payments and cash withdrawal at select merchant outlets in India and Singapore.

8.  Wall Street Finance Limited: The sandbox product ‘WSFx SecuSmart REMIT’ facilitates contactless outward cross-border remittances with digital customer onboarding and remittance processing through a complete digital process.

RBI had opened up the second cohort of regulatory sandbox for cross-border payments on December 16, 2020.

Also Read: Six entities exit first cohort of RBI's regulatory sandbox on retail payments

India is the largest recipient of inbound remittances across the globe accounting for 15% of global share; in the year 2019, India received $83 bn and in the first half year of 2020, has received $27.4 bn. Further, the daily average turnover of OTC foreign exchange instruments in India is approximately $40 bn, RBI said on December 16, 2020 in a release.

The Cohort is expected to spur innovations capable of recasting the cross-border payments landscape by leveraging new technologies to meet the needs of a low cost, secure, convenient and transparent system in a faster manner, RBI said on December 16, 2020.