Skydo gets final IFSCA nod for GIFT City payments licence

Skydo, an Indian start-up that helps exporters and freelancers receive payments from abroad, has received final authorisation from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to operate as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City, Gujarat. The company announced the licence on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The IFSCA register lists the entity, Skydo Payments IFSC Private Limited, as a PSP registered on October 21, 2026. The final approval follows an in-principle nod reported in May 2026, and Skydo says it will use the licence to offer multi-currency accounts and a wider set of cross-border payment services.

Receiving payments from abroad can be slow and costly for a small Indian export business. A software freelancer in Indore, a handicraft exporter in Jaipur or a design studio in Kochi can lose money twice on a foreign payment, once in bank charges and again in the exchange rate. Start-ups such as Skydo have grown by offering cheaper, faster and more transparent collection of payments from overseas clients.

The new licence moves Skydo into a different setting. GIFT City's IFSC is a special zone in Gujarat that is treated, for many financial purposes, like an offshore centre within India. Businesses there can deal in foreign currencies under rules set by IFSCA rather than the ordinary domestic rules. A Payment Service Provider licence in the IFSC lets a company offer payment services from this zone, including accounts that hold several currencies.

For exporters, a multi-currency account means money received in US dollars, euros or pounds can be held in that currency instead of being converted into rupees immediately. That gives a business more control over when to convert and helps if it also has to pay suppliers or tools abroad in the same currency. Merchant acquiring, another service named in the plans, means processing card and other payments for businesses that sell to customers overseas.

The licence also matters for GIFT City itself, since each new licensed payment company adds to the range of services available in the centre.

Readers should note what is not yet known. The reports did not give launch dates or prices for the new accounts, and the company has not said which services will start first. Exporters should check the terms, fees and safeguards on the company's official channels before moving their collections.

Short-term: Skydo can now build and launch its IFSC products, starting with multi-currency accounts for exporters, once it announces terms.

Long-term: If such services become common, small Indian exporters and freelancers, including those far from the big metros, could get access to international banking-style tools that were once mainly available to large companies.

Who is affected: Indian exporters, freelancers and small businesses that earn in foreign currency; investment and trade-finance platforms that need payment infrastructure; and the GIFT City ecosystem.

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