How to accept UPI payments when your business is outside India
Your customers reach for UPI. Your business is not in India. Here is why that combination is usually blocked, what it takes to unblock it, and what changes at your checkout when you do.
In short
- The blocker is usually where your business is established, not what it sells.
- Adding UPI does not mean moving your business, changing providers for everything else, or rebuilding your checkout.
- Registration is $100, charged once at the payment step straight after you apply. Most merchants pay no transaction fees. Where a fee does apply, it depends on the merchant arrangement.
- Eligibility and onboarding requirements apply, and approval is never automatic - check before you register if you are unsure.
The problem: your customers want to pay a way you cannot accept
If a meaningful share of your customers are in India, you will have seen the pattern. They reach your checkout, look for UPI, do not find it, and either pay by card reluctantly or leave. Cards work, but for a lot of people UPI is simply the default - the thing they reach for without thinking about it.
When you ask your existing payment provider to add UPI, the answer is usually about where your business is, not about your business itself. UPI acceptance has generally been arranged through Indian merchant setups, so a company incorporated elsewhere often finds the option unavailable, or available only if it establishes an Indian entity first.
That is the gap this service exists to close: letting eligible international merchants accept UPI without moving or restructuring the business.
What actually changes at your checkout
Less than people expect. Concretely:
- UPI becomes one more payment option alongside the methods you already offer. It does not replace them.
- Your storefront, cart and order system stay where they are. There is no migration and no rebuild.
- Your customer never leaves their own app. They pick UPI, approve the payment in the UPI app they already use, and come back to your confirmation page.
- Your business stays where it is. No relocation, no new entity as a precondition of applying.
If you want the customer’s side of that in more detail, the UPI explainer walks through what they actually see and do.
How the process works
Four steps, in this order:
- Register. Complete the merchant registration and tell us about your business and how your customers pay today.
- Get connected. We confirm eligibility, complete onboarding, and issue the integration details for your merchant account.
- Add UPI. Your developers add UPI as a payment option in the checkout you already run.
- Accept payments. Customers pay with UPI while your business keeps operating internationally.
The how it works page covers each step in more detail, including what to have ready before you apply.
We do not publish an onboarding timeline. It depends on the information you supply and the checks that apply to your business, and a number that does not apply to your case is worse than no number at all - so we confirm it with you directly instead.
What to have ready before you apply
- Your business details - legal business name, where the business operates from, and what you sell.
- Your website or product - a link to the checkout or product your customers pay through.
- How you expect to use UPI - a rough sense of volume and the customers you want to accept UPI from. An estimate is fine.
- A technical contact - whoever will add the payment option once onboarding is complete.
One thing to be firm about, in both directions: never send passwords, card numbers, bank credentials or identity documents through a web form, ours included. Our application form asks for business details only. If a document is genuinely required, it is requested through a secure channel during onboarding - never as a reply to a marketing form. That is a good rule to apply to every provider you deal with, not just this one.
What it costs
Registration is $100, charged once. It covers merchant registration, UPI payment acceptance setup and international merchant onboarding. According to the service offering, there is no additional registration requirement after that initial registration, subject to eligibility and applicable requirements.
Most merchants pay no transaction fees. Where a fee does apply, it depends on the merchant arrangement. We deliberately do not publish a transaction rate on the website, because the rate that applies depends on your merchant arrangement - it is confirmed with you during onboarding, before you start accepting payments.
You are taken to the payment step as soon as your application is registered, and it goes to our team for review once the payment clears. Full detail is on the pricing page, and refund eligibility is set out in the refund policy - worth reading before you register.
Eligibility, honestly
This is designed for eligible international merchants, and both words matter. Merchant eligibility and onboarding requirements apply, and submitting an application does not create a merchant account or guarantee approval.
Do you need an Indian company? Not necessarily - the service is designed for international merchants, subject to eligibility and onboarding requirements. Your own obligations still depend on where your business is established and how it operates, so treat this as product information rather than legal or tax advice, and take your own advice on your position.
Some business categories cannot be supported, or can be supported only under additional conditions. If you are unsure whether yours qualifies, ask before you register rather than finding out during onboarding.
The next step
If your customers are asking for UPI and your current provider cannot offer it, the useful next move is to put your actual details in front of someone who can tell you where you stand.
Start the merchant application, or send us the specifics first if you would rather check eligibility before registering. Both reach the same team.
This guide is general information about how UPI acceptance works, not legal, tax or regulatory advice. What applies to your business depends on where it is established and what it sells, and is confirmed during onboarding rather than assumed here.
Ready to accept UPI?
Register as an international merchant for a $100 one-time fee, and add UPI to the checkout you already run.
$100 one-time registration. Most merchants pay no transaction fees. Where a fee does apply, it depends on the merchant arrangement.