sudshekhar

The term "Conspiracy Theory" itself needs more scrutiny, IMO.

The range of arguments which may be called "conspiracy theories" is far and wide. And the truth about many theories only becomes clear after a lot of time.

What the author might have discovered instead is the tendency of lonely people to seek new belief systems starkly in contrast to the group they feel alienated from.

Yes, We'll just have to update your account with the latest passport/OCI proof.

Your account balance and history will remain consistent and untouched.

More than connections, you need luck and persistance. The process itself is doable. But not easy.

These are the steps you'll have to follow if you plan to launch a new UPI app:

First, you'll finalize the business plan + team.

Second, you'll have to find early investors and backers

Third, you'll have to find a banking partner to work with

Fourth, you'll have to develop the product

Fifth, you'll undergo certifications and audits by RBI approved third parties

Sixth, you're app will be tested by officials at the NPCI

Seventh, Now you go live

Only after step 7, do you get to know if customers will buy your product.

Or if the entire effort goes to waste.

Once we have ACH/SWIFT running smoothly, we'll start offering even lower rates

Adding funds via credit/debit card incurs an hefty merchant commission.

And hence, no forex company can't sustainably provide 0 FX rates for too long unless they're only taking funds via bank transfer.

The 3.5% is basically the international credit card markup, cheq doesn't make any money on this.

A flat $30-$50 fee will easily cover for most of these costs though.

We can cover the 3.5% markup plus provide doorstep verification service to customers

Thanks for the suggestion. We'll definitely try a variant of this soon

In our case, it was someone from the RBI

I agree.

In principle, there shouldn't be a concern allowing people to access their own money from anywhere in the world.

However the product category itself is very new right now.

We'll have to demonstrate strong customer need before approvals might be granted.

Once passport/visa expires, we're supposed to disable the account

We'll have to verify the new documents and enable the wallet again.

We're passing on the wholesale rate to our customers.

And plan to keep optimising these costs with time and volumes.

Also, loading Cheq with INR is not allowed for foreign tourists currently.

You can topup with international currency only

I can understand why 3.5% might sound high.

But cross border payments are expensive to facilitate. And this is the best rate we've been able to figure out currently.

Btw, In the US, Most ATMs are charging 3-5$ extra each time I withdraw cash. Plus the currency conversion charges.

Our prices are definitely better.

You can of course use your credit card / cash to make spends while travelling in India as well.

But UPI will feel more convenient. And it works everywhere.