Runa, the leading global fintech infrastructure for the next generation of payouts experiences, today announced its expansion into India, opening access to the country’s $8.9 billion gift card market. With this expansion, Runa allows its business customers the ability to easily send instant, domestic and cross-border payouts to consumer recipients in India, dramatically reducing the traditional barriers of cost and complexity.

India’s rapid digital payment transformation—expanding at a notable rate of 44% CAGR by transaction volume from 2017 to 2024—paired with a surge in cross-border consumer transactions, which grew by 121% in the last nine months of 2024 alone, has created a strong demand for alternative consumer payout solutions.

By unlocking access to India, Runa emerges as a strategic partner for companies looking to tap into India's thriving gift card sector for consumer disbursement, rewards, recognition and incentives. With the Indian market growing by 15.3% year over year, Runa enables companies to simplify regulatory compliance, reduce foreign exchange risks, and provide flexible funding options when sending funds to Indian recipients.

“We’re proud to bring Runa to India, where digital payments and gift cards are transforming how people connect and transact,” said Aron Alexander, CEO of Runa. “India’s fast-growing market is full of opportunity, and we’re here to help businesses effortlessly join one of the world’s most exciting economies and connect with millions of new consumers.”

Through Runa’s technology, businesses can now deliver instant payouts via an expansive network of thousands of global and leading Indian merchants, including e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Shoppers Stop and popular digital wallets like Amazon Pay. Runa’s customers benefit from:

• Real-Time Payouts: A streamlined solution for instant payments, eliminating the delays and costs associated with traditional cross-border transactions.
• Flexible Funding & Foreign Exchange Options: Mitigation of capital control risks and seamless transactions without the need to hold Indian Rupees.
• Built-in Regulatory Compliance: Comprehensive handling of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, GST regulations, and data protection requirements.
• Extensive Merchant Network: A single integration granting access to top Indian and global merchants.

The expansion comes at a pivotal time, as The International Trade Administration reports that India is experiencing a digital payments revolution and e-commerce boom, fueled by rapid smartphone adoption, 650 million users in 2024, and internet connectivity extending to more than 950 million people.

“Runa has done all of the heavy lifting to pave the way for us to launch in India, sourcing popular merchants and alleviating the hassles and compliance challenges,” said Mike Bowles, Senior Director of Operations at Augeo Marketing. “We’re looking forward to launching our program into the Indian market.”

Runa’s modern global payment infrastructure allows businesses to instantly reach more recipients with the most payout options, unbound by traditional cross-border challenges on legacy payment rails. For more information, visit https://runa.io/lp/send-international-payouts-to-india

About Runa

Runa is a leading global fintech building the infrastructure for the next generation of payouts experiences. Runa's API empowers thousands of businesses to make payments to 5 billion+ consumers in 190+ countries. Consumers receive the money instantly and save it to their account or spend it at any merchant within the Runa Network. Fully embeddable within any digital experience, Runa transforms payouts by unlocking new revenue for senders, removing friction for consumers and increasing basket size for merchants.

Based in London and New York and supported by a global team, Runa’s growth is backed by key investors, including Element Ventures, CommerzVentures, Clocktower Ventures, Volution Capital, 13Books Capital, and SAP. Learn more at www.runa.io.

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