PayPal, the Digital payments provider, introduced an automated process to receive monthly Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA) digitally, allowing Indian merchants to download their monthly digital FIRA issued by banks.
PayPal Target – This step is a part of PayPal’s mission to reach net zero emissions by 2040.
Objective – The initiatives are aimed to empower Indian MSME exporters to grow their business internationally.
What is FIRA?
i.It is a key document for Indian MSME exporters and freelancers that establishes proof of receipt of export proceeds in foreign currency from outside the country.
ii.It will be issued by Indian banks and it is required by exporters of all sizes, individual or a business (such as a limited company, partnership firm, sole proprietorship firm etc).
Benefits under Digital FIRA:
i.The digital FIRA process will be issued at zero cost and it reduces time, saves money, removes friction, and eliminate the need to visit branches, thereby reducing the chances of the Covid-19.
ii.The monthly digital FIRA could be downloaded by merchants from their PayPal account. It enables Indian sellers to apply for bill closure and get tax benefits at a much faster rate.
iii.Once the FIRA is made available, the sellers will be notified via email.
The change over:
i.Earlier Indian sellers and freelancers will send a manual request to PayPal’s partner bank (with the fee for the service), then the bank will issue FIRA as a physical statement (take up to 10 days).
ii.The current digital FIRA initiative came after PayPal’s partnership with FlexiLoans.com, a digital lending platform, to provide freelancers, women entrepreneurs, and sole proprietors in MSMEs with collateral-free business loans.
iii.In 2020, PayPal enabled exports worth Rs 10,000 crore for 3.6 lakh small exporters with a majority driven by tribal, artisan and women-led enterprises.
Recent Related News:
Cashfree, a Bengaluru-based payments & banking technology company has partnered with PayPal to enable International payments for its merchants. It will enable businesses using Cashfree’s payment gateway to show prices of all products in 28 + currencies.
About PayPal:
Establishment – December 1998
President and CEO– Dan Schulman
Headquarters– San Jose, California
