Behind the Scenes of Cross Border Payments | Skydo Co-founder, Movin Jain Reveals All

Business problem & market context (cross-border payments)

India’s export ecosystem has grown—more freelancers and small/medium businesses now earn from global customers—but bank payment operations haven’t evolved, causing:

• Delays in receiving funds
• Low transparency (unclear fees, purpose-code requirements, and compliance steps)
• High and unpredictable costs, including deductions across wire transfer paths, correspondent banks, FX conversion margins, and GST/FIRC/SWIFT-like charges
• Manual/branch-based steps and potential rework when money is returned or information is missing

Startup solution: Skydo (trade facilitation + “UPI-like” UX for B2B cross-border)

Skydo is positioned as fintech infrastructure for financial inclusion / financial plumbing for exporters in India receiving international payments.

Core product/process design (what changes vs banks)

Current bank flow (pain points)

• Recipient in India waits for wire transfers (Swift/MT103/telegraphic transfers).
• Sender may need bank-branch form steps, and charges get deducted along the way.
• Recipient sees the credited amount (e.g., “~2900€ received” vs “3000€ expected”) with multiple hidden deductions.
• FX conversion uses a bank rate with a margin (~2–3%), plus additional charges (GST/FIRC/SWIFT/Fx-related), some uncertain until later.
• Compliance forms, follow-ups, and uncertainty can become a “queue-like” experience depending on transaction volume.

Skydo flow (proposed improvements)

• No branch visit / fewer physical forms
  • Account creation + KYC within ~5 minutes (RBI compliant).
• Virtual accounts in foreign currency / local rails
  • Example: A German client transfers €3000 locally into Skydo’s Euro virtual account (treated as local payment within the EU currency area).
  • This reduces reliance on traditional wire initiation and associated manual friction/fee leakage.
• Operational tracking + faster settlement to India
  • Recipient gets a notification immediately when funds arrive against an invoice.
  • Within 1 business day, Skydo converts Euro → INR and credits the recipient’s Indian account (current account / savings account).
  • Provides end-to-end dashboard visibility (“Where’s my money?”), unlike typical banks.
• Purpose-code compliance setup in advance
  • During onboarding, Skydo captures the RBI “purpose code” (often stable for SMBs) and uses a default in the dashboard for smoother straight-through processing.

Explicit scale/traction claims mentioned

• RBI aggregator license for cross-border payments (earned “recently”).
• Customers/providers are Indian-based exporters/traders receiving money internationally.
• Volume milestone cited: “payment volume has already reached $300 million” (as part of vision discussion).
• Timeline ambition: start international allocation within 1–2 years.

Strategy & positioning (business model logic)

• Start with India because
  • The team is Indian; stronger knowledge of RBI regulations and execution in India.
  • Indian exporters/freelancers are large and fast-growing, enabling product-market fit to emerge first.
• Expansion plan
  • Move from India → other emerging markets (examples given: Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico) and later developed markets.
• Positioning comparison
  • Frames Skydo as “UPI for cross-border payments”, focused on trade facilitation rather than P2P remittance/family transfers.

GTM scope: who it serves (and who it doesn’t)

• Not focused on P2P remittance / family transfers.
• Instead, Skydo targets:
  • Indian freelancers and SMBs/exporters receiving payment from global business customers.
• Sales motion
  • Users in India who receive money adopt Skydo to receive international funds via Skydo’s rails.
  • The interview emphasizes the receiving-side trade facilitation problem.

Frameworks / playbooks / operational tactics mentioned

No formal frameworks (e.g., OKRs/SWOT) were explicitly named, but the interview includes a clear process playbook:

• Eliminate manual steps by redesigning payment rails
  • replace global wire with local payments via virtual accounts
• Reduce cost uncertainty via predictability
  • consolidate FX/conversion + compliance/FX/payment steps
• Compliance-by-design
  • gather purpose codes at onboarding → enable straight-through processing
• Customer visibility as a product feature
  • build a tracking dashboard to reduce “payment anxiety” and support burden

Metrics & KPIs explicitly cited (or quantified examples)

No formal KPI table was provided, but several numeric indicators were mentioned:

• Onboarding/account creation: within 5 minutes
• Funds availability to India: within 1 business day
• Example invoice value: €3000
• FX rate margin mentioned: typically about ~2–2.5% (up to ~3%)
• Fee leakage example: recipient could receive ~€2900 (≈ €100+ lost in the example)
• Payment volume milestone (vision discussion): $300 million
• Expansion timeline: 1–2 years to start international journey

Entrepreneurship & leadership takeaways (execution culture, risk, mental health)

• Founder guidance:
  • Avoid being misled by social media “overnight unicorn” narratives; ground yourself in skills and interests.
  • Seek advice from trustworthy mentors who created real world value.
• Money philosophy tied to mission:
  • Success should include proportional impact; earning without creating good outcomes leads to dissatisfaction.
• Founder sustainability (“unwinding”):
  • Build a recurring routine to avoid burnout:
    • Gym 4–5 days/week + yoga 2 days/week (with trainers)
    • fixed schedule so work doesn’t consume all time
  • Cites becoming a father (~5 months prior) as an additional stabilizer for balance.

Concrete example/case narrative (end-to-end payment)

Bank-based flow (typical)

• Germany client (Lets) pays a freelancer.
• Invoice sent on the 5th of the month (email).
• Client initiates wire (potential bank-branch/manual steps).
• Multiple charges deducted (sender charges + correspondent charges).
• Recipient sees net credited amount only after conversion and extra bank charges.

Skydo alternative

• Client transfers € locally into Skydo’s Euro virtual account.
• Freelancer receives a notification.
• INR credit arrives within 1 business day.
• Dashboard shows payment progress at each stage.

Presenters / sources

• Vivek Law (podcast host, “Simple Hai”)
• Movin Jain (Founder, Skydo)
• Context mentions: RBI (Reserve Bank of India), Piyush Goyal, and companies PhonePe, Meesho, Ola, BLS (as Movin’s work/experience references)