Senior executives from HSBC India and Visa outline how GIFT City is set to revolutionise foreign-currency handling and international payments for Indian customers, making cross-border activities faster, safer, and more affordable.
Senior executives at HSBC India and Visa are positioning GIFT City as a way for Indian customers to handle more foreign-currency and cross-border financial activity without leaving the country’s own financial system. Speaking at the “Global Connect GIFT City” event on Tuesday, Deepthi Sirvuri of HSBC India said the International Financial Services Centre can fill gaps that currently push customers to seek products abroad, while Rishi Chhabra of Visa India said the broader ambition is to make international payments faster, safer and less expensive.
For HSBC, the draw is the ability for customers to hold foreign currency in India and manage overseas obligations without opening accounts in another jurisdiction. HSBC’s India business already offers eligible non-resident Indian customers foreign-currency current accounts and term deposits at GIFT City, including balances in US dollars, euros and pounds sterling, according to the bank’s own material. The company says this can support NRIs and other customers with international spending, investing and savings needs from within India.
Sirvuri also said digital channels have shortened payment timelines sharply, with transactions that once took up to two weeks now often confirmed on the same day, including payments for overseas education. HSBC has argued that holding foreign currency locally can reduce repeated conversions and help customers avoid unnecessary exchange-rate exposure. The bank said transfer costs typically include both service charges and the foreign-exchange spread, with its app showing the spread before a payment is completed.
Visa is looking at a broader range of products and services linked to the GIFT City ecosystem, beyond its core card-network role. Chhabra said the company is considering bringing in tools such as Visa Direct, which supports account-to-card and account-to-account transfers, and Currencycloud, which helps users hold balances, fund wallets and make payouts while managing currency conversion. Visa is also examining card issuing, acceptance, card management systems and the technology needed to run cards and loans from GIFT City, as cross-border payments remain more complex than domestic transfers despite India’s advances in real-time payment infrastructure. HSBC has separately said GIFT City is increasingly attractive to resident Indians as well as NRIs because it offers access to global products, banking expertise and foreign-currency services from a jurisdiction closer to home.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
