Accepting cards from customers abroad

International acceptance means letting customers outside India pay you with cards issued by their own banks abroad. The customer pays in a familiar way; you receive money in India. In between, the payment has to be accepted by a provider set up for cross-border cards, converted between currencies, and settled under India's rules for money coming in from abroad.

It is different from two things it's often confused with: paying suppliers overseas, and moving money between your own accounts in different countries.

An international card payment involves more parties than a domestic one, and the extra ones sit in different countries. Each adds its own checks, which is why international payments decline more often and settle more slowly.

International acceptance is mostly about cards: credit and debit cards issued abroad on the major card networks. Which networks, card types and any other international methods are available depends on the cross-border providers connected for your business, and is confirmed during onboarding rather than assumed. Don't advertise a card brand or method at checkout until it's been confirmed for your account.

Two currencies matter in every international payment. The presentment currency is what the customer sees and pays in. The settlement currency is what you receive, usually INR in your Indian account. Somewhere between the two, someone converts the money, and who does it changes what each side pays.

When the customer pays, their card issuer decides whether to approve the payment. For a merchant in another country the issuer is often more cautious: it may decline outright, approve it, or ask the customer to confirm it's really them through its own authentication step, commonly called 3-D Secure.

Authentication happens between the customer and their bank, often in a pop-up or their banking app. If it fails, times out or the customer closes it, the payment doesn't go through, even though the card itself is fine.

Converting currency has a cost, even when no fee is named. The rate is how many rupees you get per unit of the customer's currency. A spreador markup is the gap between that rate and a reference rate. On top come the provider's fee and GST on the fee.

When the rate is set matters too. If conversion happens at settlement rather than at payment, the rate can move in between. Which applies, and the rate itself, depends on your provider and agreement. The numbers below are illustrative, not LILPE or market rates.

International cards decline more often than domestic ones, and most declines have nothing to do with the customer's balance. From your side they all look like "payment failed", which is why knowing the causes matters.

A refund on an international payment goes back to the original card through the original provider, like any refund. The difference is currency: the refund is converted again, and the rate may have moved since the payment. The customer can receive a slightly different amount in their currency than they paid, and your INR cost of the refund can differ from what you received.

Chargebacks, where the customer disputes the payment with their issuer abroad, follow the card network's rules and your provider's process. They tend to take longer than domestic ones, so keep delivery and usage evidence for every international order.

International payments are settled to your Indian bank account, usually in INR, at the provider's rate and net of its fees. The settlement cycle is set in your provider agreement and can differ from your domestic payments; it's confirmed per business rather than promised in advance.

Money coming into India from abroad also carries paperwork. Each payment is typically tagged with a purpose code and your invoice reference, and the provider or its partner bank issues documentation for the inward remittance. Keep it with your records: your accountant and your bank may ask for it. See how settlement works in general.

Collecting from customers abroad through a payment aggregator in India falls under RBI's framework for cross-border payment aggregators and under India's foreign exchange rules. In practice, providers check your business before enabling international cards, may ask for invoices or shipping documents, and apply the limits and documentation the rules require for your category.

The details depend on what you sell and how, and interpreting them is a job for your provider and your adviser. Routing sends a payment to a provider that supports your use case; it doesn't change what that provider is required to check.

International reconciliation has one extra layer: the amount the customer paid is in one currency and the amount you received is in another. Match on references, not amounts, and record the conversion as its own line.

Providers look at your business before enabling international cards, and the same things that get you approved keep declines and disputes low afterwards.

Most international card acceptance falls into a handful of patterns. Which currencies and networks fit each is confirmed during onboarding.