Xflow Launches India Collections: Global Businesses Can Now Accept UPI and Local Payments Without Local Entities

Xflow has launched a collection solution enabling global businesses to accept domestic Indian payments, including UPI and local cards, without establishing a local entity. For fintech professionals, this removes a significant barrier to entry in the world's fastest-growing consumer market, where international card failure rates often stifle cross-border revenue growth.

What was announced

The new "India collections" solution allows international merchants to treat cross-border transactions as local ones for the Indian buyer. Global businesses can now accept payments through India’s most popular domestic methods, such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which accounts for approximately 85% of the country's digital payment volume. The platform also supports local bank transfers and credit cards, achieving a payment success rate of over 95%, compared to the sub-70% success rate typically seen with international cards in the region. This disparity is often caused by cards not being enabled for cross-border spending or failing to meet India's specific data requirements for recurring payments.

The service is specifically designed for sectors with high demand in India, including SaaS, AI, consumer-tech, edtech, and online travel platforms. Merchants can receive funds settled in U.S. dollars or other major currencies to almost any global destination at competitive rates. Crucially, the solution bypasses the need for global firms to register a local entity or manage the complex regulatory and data requirements associated with India's recurring payment mandates.

This launch follows a period of rapid scaling for Xflow, which reported 10x growth in 2025. The company now serves nearly 20,000 businesses across more than 100 countries and 25 currencies. Xflow holds a comprehensive suite of licenses, including full authorization from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a Payment Aggregator for both cross-border and online transactions, and in-principle approval from the IFSCA to operate within GIFT City. It also operates as a Money Services Business in the United States and Canada.

"Getting paid by customers in India has always been harder than it should be, and global businesses lose real revenue because of it. We're making it possible for any international company to accept payments from Indian customers as easily as a domestic merchant would with the local payment methods Indians prefer. This enables high payment success rates, settlement in their own currency, and less compliance headaches. Our mission is to make cross-border payments as seamless as domestic ones."

Ashwin Bhatnagar, Co-founder & CEO, Xflow.

The companies involved

Xflow is an Indian fintech specializing in cross-border payments infrastructure. The company has raised more than $32 million to date, including a $16.6 million Series A round earlier this year that valued the firm at $85 million. Notably, Xflow is the first Indian fintech to receive backing from both Stripe and PayPal Ventures. Its infrastructure is also utilized by other fintech entities such as Drip Capital and Easebuzz.

The company’s investor base includes some of the most prominent names in global venture capital. General Catalyst, a firm with a significant footprint in the fintech sector, led the Series A round. Stripe, a global leader in payment processing, and PayPal Ventures, the venture capital arm of PayPal, provide strategic backing alongside Lightspeed, Square Peg, and Moore Capital. Beyond its Indian operations, Xflow is registered as a Money Services Business in both the United States and Canada. This regulatory breadth allows the company to navigate the complexities of international trade and digital services, positioning it as a bridge between global merchants and the Indian economy.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has extensively covered the activities of Xflow’s key backers and the broader evolution of the payments landscape. Stripe, a primary investor in Xflow, has been featured in 176 stories, including recent reports on its role in AI-driven innovation. This includes the Meta Integrates Stripe Link to Turn Muse AI into a Global Shopping Agent report and the announcement that Bank of Ireland and Stripe Partner to Supercharge AI-Driven Payments Innovation. Additionally, FF News has tracked the growth of AI-native financial services, such as when Accrual Acquires Puzzle’s Firm Business to Expand AI-Native Client Accounting Services, reflecting the same high-demand sectors Xflow is now targeting with its India collections solution.

What this means

This move places significant pressure on traditional merchant acquirers who have struggled to navigate India’s unique regulatory environment and the dominance of UPI. By offering a "no-entity" solution, Xflow is effectively lowering the moat that previously protected local Indian incumbents from global competition. The industry is moving toward a model where domestic payment preferences are the non-negotiable standard for international commerce. For the sector, the question is no longer whether to enter the Indian market, but how quickly global payment providers can integrate local rails like UPI to prevent further revenue leakage for their merchant clients. This development signals that the "local-first" approach is becoming the mandatory blueprint for global cross-border expansion.