In an interview with Mukesh Sahu, Country Manager of PingBong highlighted how it effectively addresses the challenges of global cross-border payments and ensures that Indian businesses get the support they need to drive their business growth.
Read the full interview
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TechGraph: Can you tell us about Pingpong and how it sets you apart from other similar companies?
Mukesh Sahu: PingPong is a fast-growing, innovative payment service provider for cross-border e-commerce merchants, freelancers and service providers. Founded by a group of payments and finance professionals in New York in 2015, PingPong has offices in the US, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Vietnam, Japan and India. PingPong’s global headquarters is based in Hangzhou, China.
With a global workforce of over 1,400, the PingPong team is committed to providing best-in-class service to our customers and helping them grow their businesses. We are also the first fintech company to gain regulatory access in major countries in Europe and the United States.
Cross-border payments are easy with PingPong. Irrespective of your geographical location in India, our team helps your business grow and expand in all markets around the world. We ease global payment hassles and ensure your business gets the support it needs to take it to the next level.
TechGraph: How does Pingpong ensure the security of online payments and protect customer information during cross-border transactions?
Mukesh Sahu: PingPong Global Solutions Inc. (USA) is registered as a money services business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of the Treasury and a non-depository financial institution with the National Mortgage State Licensing System. We have OPGSP license from Reserve Bank of India in India.
Wherever we operate, we comply with local rules and regulations and obtain the necessary licenses. All necessary steps have been taken to ensure the security of customer data.
TechGraph: How does Pingpong ensure that its cross-border payment system is reliable and capable of handling high volumes of transactions in different currencies and payment methods?
Mukesh Sahu: PingPong doesn’t use third-party organizations—the companies have never heard of—to protect their money. We acquire our own licenses to prevent surprises with your money.
We have partnered with renowned brands such as Citibank, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. These brands are licensed to operate efficiently, protect customers’ money and are subject to regulatory and supervisory frameworks in the US, Europe and Asia.
We also provide the highest level of security to keep your money safe, including two-factor authentication (personal PIN and SMS confirmation). Also, PingPong is the only company that protects customers’ money. No third parties lend us their licenses or services to conduct the business we help you conduct.
TechGraph: What are some of the biggest challenges facing Pingpong in the cross-border payments industry and how is the company addressing them?
Mukesh Sahu: Cross-border payments present a set of critical challenges that require immediate attention. To facilitate smooth international transactions, the following areas should be addressed effectively:
Price – providing customers with the lowest currency conversion costs, which in special cases can reach less than 0.1% when the transaction volume is high.
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Keep your money safe – with so much money transacting globally, it becomes critical to ensure high standards in the compliance process to weed out bad actors and ensure a seamless experience for the genuine exporter. The idea is to keep money safe for those who transact with us, while providing a seamless login and checkout experience.
speed – They say time is money, hence this is the third most relevant vertical to look at to ensure exporters get paid as quickly as possible to keep their supply chain functioning at an optimal pace .
Messaging System Interoperability – To be able to work with multiple bank channels for collection and remittance, a highly interoperable messaging system is essential. It is vital that we adopt widely accepted Swift or ISO standards for this to happen.
TechGraph: How does Pingpong minimize transaction fees for your customers when processing cross-border payments?
Mukesh Sahu: We strive to provide competitive pricing to our customers, thereby helping them increase their profit margins. Our goal is to enable e-commerce sellers, freelancers and service providers to “bring home more money” with a transparent pricing system. We only charge 1% service provider fees while others charge 2% service fees. Also, we don’t have any third party involvement, which means the money will be transferred directly to the customer’s account and that too in your country’s currency.
TechGraph: What are some of the key trends or developments shaping the future of online payment gateways and cross-border payments?
Mukesh Sahu: One of the major developments that shaped the field of cross-border payments is Neo-banking.
TechGraph: How does Pingpong handle disputes or issues related to cross-border payments, and what measures are in place to ensure customers are protected and their payments are processed quickly and efficiently?
Mukesh Sahu: In most cases, the licensing banks set standards for dispute resolution. As in the case of traditional offline payments, when there is a chargeback, collection banks usually enforce certain dispute resolution standards. These standards may include tracking the source of payments, business details to support an actual transaction, and standards for timely resolution of such issues. We make sure we establish these standards to ensure fair responses to our customers are acceptable and in line with industry best practices.
TechGraph: Can you discuss any recent updates or enhancements to your online payment gateway and cross-border payment opportunities that you are particularly excited about?
Mukesh Sahu: There are many ongoing developments in the area of cross-border payments. UPI integrates with multiple payment methods globally. India has recently partnered with Paynow Singapore and is considering over 10 more countries for payment integration.
UPI is added as a payment gateway option from global websites and D2C brands, making it easier for Indian customers without a credit card to order or shop for products from global platforms, and BNPL is added as an option through cross-border payment gateways. Acceptance of digital currency as an alternative payment option when sourcing products globally are some of the major updates driving the cross-border payment gateway.
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