 "Infibeam Avenues gets IFSCA's in-principle nod for payment services at GIFT")
Infibeam Avenues Ltd (IAL), a listed artificial intelligence (AI)-fintech company, has received in-principle approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to operate as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT-IFSC), the company announced on Tuesday (October 28). The approval was granted to IA Fintech IFSC Private Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of IAL.
The in-principle approval enables IA Fintech to provide a wide range of digital payment and cross-border financial services for enterprises within GIFT-IFSC and international markets. These will include escrow account operations, cross-border money transfer facilitation, and merchant acquisition services.
Infibeam Avenues’ chairman and managing director, Vishal Mehta, said the approval represents a key business expansion and creates a new potential revenue stream. “This opportunity marks an important expansion of our business, creating a new and high-potential revenue stream that can meaningfully contribute to our overall growth,” he said.
Once final authorisation is obtained, IA Fintech will be permitted to provide escrow services for secure settlements, enable cross-border remittances, and facilitate payment processing and settlement for merchants.
Faster, cost-effective cross-border transactions
Currently, many firms in GIFT-IFSC depend on traditional correspondent banking arrangements involving multiple intermediaries and SWIFT networks, which can take up to 48 hours and add to costs. IA Fintech’s digital PSP framework aims to make these payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent through advanced settlement infrastructure.
The company said its technology will help reduce transaction times significantly and make cross-border financial operations smoother for businesses in the special economic zone.
The expansion of GIFT city ecosystem
GIFT-IFSC in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, is India’s premier international financial hub designed to host global operations that typically occur in centres like London, Dubai, or Singapore. The zone has rapidly expanded to include more than 16 Alternative Investment Funds, 75 broker-dealers, 23 aircraft leasing firms, and 94 fund management companies.
Earlier this month, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) at the IFSC in GIFT City. The new system enables institutions operating within GIFT IFSC to conduct and settle foreign currency transactions instantly or almost instantly, marking a major shift from the existing process that typically takes 36 to 48 hours through conventional correspondent banking networks.
With this launch, GIFT City joined an exclusive league of international financial hubs such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Manila that have their own mechanisms for settling foreign currency trades locally. The FCSS is designed to sharply cut settlement timelines, enhance liquidity management, reduce settlement risks, and improve overall operational efficiency for market participants.
According to estimates, GIFT-IFSC is poised to tap into financial opportunities worth over $500 billion across sectors such as trade finance, aviation and ship leasing, and wealth management. Meanwhile, trade finance transactions in the hub have more than doubled from $20 billion in FY22 to $46 billion in FY25.